


Corrupted

by FlamingTrashcan



Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Alterasia, Cannibalism, Mild Gore, Other, basically Elrios goes to hell, lot of death though, maybe if you squint you'll see something, no ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-27 09:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 48,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7612228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlamingTrashcan/pseuds/FlamingTrashcan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Add, on his endless quest for more power, decides to investigate the mutated Alterasia. It doesn't go as planned, and pretty soon he realizes this parasite can mutate to live and corrupt any living being, including himself.</p><p>Don't mess with angry parasitic plants kids.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is kinda long and honestly I've never really written anything fandom related before, so it's not very good. AU I made up with my friend while SDing

It was done. The last threat of Alterasia had been killed, its remains left in the heart of the tunnel to burn with the rest of its species. Despite the spores still falling from flowers that lined the ceiling, the entire El Search Party could be confident that their work was finished. Once they exited, Elesis and Raven would devote their time to filling the tunnel with fire. Everything would be erased, and the inhabitants of Altera could breathe peacefully once again.

It was the exact reason he’d straggled behind. The last thing Add wanted was to lose out on such an opportunity as this; never before had he witnessed mutations like this. The Alterasia strain had evolved enough to form itself a body like Elsword’s, even copying some of his powers and swordplay. It was fascinating to say the least. The creature had actually managed to damage them as well. Placed against eleven skilled fighters, it had lasted long enough for them to begin worrying about suffocating in this organic hell.

He had to get a sample, even if it was just a miniscule one. Just the smallest spore, just a bit of mold or skin, even a bit of the fuzzy substance around the creature’s neck would be sufficient. Growing it in the lab would be easy, and with a little tweaking he might be able to mutate the parasitic plant into feeding off of organic creatures instead of the El in Nasods.The thought of it made him tremble with excitement, the dynamo’s carrying him copying his movements to keep him stable.

Behind him, the cheers from the El Search Party were fading. He breathed a sigh of relief as they completely dissipated and he was left seemingly alone in the damp tunnel, surrounded by dozens of potent samples. But of course, there was only one real sample he was here for.

He came upon the chamber devoid of living beings and slowed, the dynamos at his feet quickly setting him down and floating behind him in a half circle. Directly in the center of the large chamber where the original Alterasia Port had once stood was the creature’s body. Type-H.

The remains of the creature were battered and cut but still intact, and despite its lack of life a foreboding aura still hung around it. By its open palm lay the pathetic copy of the grand sword, one of the creature’s “wings” crushed next to it.The visor covering its face was hanging off half of it, revealing a darker lined texture where an actual face would have been. Directly where an eye socket might have been there was a yellow orb from the center of the Alterasia flowers. He determined that as it’s “eye”.

Calm as ever, he approached the dead creature’s body. He was glad that the search party didn’t really care about his presence--it gave him so much free time to run off and collect samples or perform tests while the rest of them loitered around their camps or rooms, wasting their short time with conversation and training. Add had no time for that at all. He hated training; it made him sweat so much to forcefully beat an ally into the ground. And of course there were the awful moments where he would “lose”. Nothing made him angrier than an actual attempt ending in failure. 

So while the rest of his allies were off training to strengthen themselves, he pursued greater methods. Enhancing his dynamos had been his primary goal at first, and then it was his body (which he quickly put off for hygiene issues), and now it was his armor. Without a doubt the Nasod Armor he’d made was strong, but it had much greater potential. The moonstone had been his first power source, and then he’d tested the effects of El, and then the power of demons. None of them had provided results much greater than his original, frustrating him even more. 

But now he had Type-H, and without a doubt he could draw a greater power source from it. After all, wasn’t he the most qualified to build his own armor? Compared to everyone save for Eve, he was more than capable. 

From nearby he heard a footfall. Add whipped around, a brief jolt of surprise coursing through him. His eyes quickly scanned the tunnel and chamber, looking for any signs of human life. Despite his attempts he found nothing. The tunnel was empty and devoid of any kind of human life, the green on the walls the only living organism beside himself. He heard nothing else save for his own breathing.

Wasting no more time, he walked over to the dead body and commanded his dynamos to begin the process of moving it. Teleportation wasn’t new to him, but transporting it directly to his old lab held the threat of failure. He didn’t want to bother placing this thing anywhere within the search party’s reach. If they knew he was experimenting with Alterasia, they’d sabotage his research or destroy it.

He ignored the first threat for the second and held his original command and watched as the creature’s body lifted into the air. Its head flopped limply, golden eye staring right at him. The visor seemed ready to fall off, and he curled his lip back in disgust as a dozen spores fell from its body.

A few purple cracks began to appear on it, swiftly become more and more apparent before they disappeared with the item they’d touched. He watched the specimen disappear slowly, a bit annoyed by how long the process took. It wasn’t even their limit, yet the dynamo’s were experiencing difficulty moving it. 

As the last of it vanished, the eye rolled off its head and landed at his feet. He stepped back and stared at it for a second before slowly picking it up. It felt just like a pearl in his hand, and he pocketed it instinctively.

The diamond shaped dynamo’s immediately returned to him the second their job was finished, forming the half circle around his shoulders and back. For a moment he contemplated searching for a few more samples; he had all the time in the world, why not search a bit more? For one, he could examine the plant that had spawned the beast, or collect a flower sample, or--

The thoughts stopped as a stabbing pain suddenly shot through his chest and he began to cough incessantly. Shit. Of course; the spores affected the body after a while. He grabbed his chest and grit his teeth, dynamos already moving to carry him out of the tunnel. As much as he hated leaving so soon, his body would not tolerate much more contaminated air.

He left the tunnel pained and exasperated.

 

 

“Well, would you look at that!” Elesis chuckled as Add glided out of the tunnel, green spores dotting his dark clothes. “Told you guys he wasn’t dead!”

She stood right at the entrance of it the contaminated tunnel waving, occasionally letting little bits of flames flicker at her fingertips . Part of her red hair was tied up in a spiky bun, the rest left to hang down to her back carelessly. The Blazing Heart wore a white coat over her dark clothes beneath, which were both stained by the same green spores on Add’s black clothing.

Behind her, a fair distance from the contaminated air, was the remainder of the search party save for the two demons Lu and Ciel. Raven and Elsword were both sitting against a curved, drill-like pillar. They paid him little mind, but Raven’s yellow eyes held a seed of suspicion in them. Near them, Aisha and Rena seemed to be chatting about something, and Rena smiled at him as he emerged from the tunnel. Eve, as usual, was standing as far away as she could from the spores. She was currently receiving a cleanup by her slave, Oberon. Chung, who was perched on his Destroyer, stared at him strictly, and Ara, who seemed antsy, looked rather relieved to see him return in one piece.

Add himself didn’t care about their opinions in the first place, for his focus was on the creature potentially rotting in his old lab. He was already drawing plans in his mind and reviewing experiments, which would take copious amounts of time no doubt. His body walked forward without his mind in it, currently on autopilot. He would need at least four large pieces of cake, several chocolate bars, two bins of coffee, as many energy drinks as he could ingest--

“Ey!” A loud yell broke the calm in his mind like a rock breaking glass. He visibly flinched before turning his head to see whoever was screaming for attention, eyes narrowed angrily. A red blur was shooting straight towards him, too fast for him to block. It painfully collided before quickly straightening him up.

Elesis was grinning as she pounced and hooked an arm around his neck. “So! What were you doin’ in there, all sneaky like that?”

He grunted and attempted to maintain a decent gait free of obstruction, but she clung to him like a tick to a cat. Her grip only tightened when he attempted to pull away, her personality becoming more childish the greater his efforts.

“Aw, c'mon! Why so secretive? Were you doing something dirty, Add?” 

He managed to pull away at last as the rest of the search party followed behind them, watching the Psyker deal with his problem. “I was observing the fascinating life of a spore without a host,” he lied. “It was boring as shit, but I honestly preferred it to spending any time with you.”

Elesis pouted playfully. “Aw, you’re spending time with the rest of your parasitic race! I bet you’re learning from them too! Appears they haven’t taught you a thing about speech, though.” Her grin widened as he moved his gaze to her face. “”Hey, tell your grandma flower that I said hi! I bet she’ll love to meet your future wife!”

He threw up a bit in his mouth and glared at her, choosing to remain silent. Elesis winked at him and stuck her tongue out. Behind them, Elsword snickered.

Add narrowed his eyes and focused on the spore-ridden path before them. Once they were back in Altera Village he’d have another chance to run off while Elsword dealt with the village chief. This time, he decided he’d just teleport to his old lab in Velder and let the others drag themselves back to their inadequate shelter in Sander. It would require a bit of repairing and some El to get the machines working again, which would probably consume a few hours of his work time. More time for the remains of Type-H to degrade. Less time for research and potential breakthroughs.

He silently cursed his decision to “join” the El Search Party.

 

 

For once, Altera Village was quiet. The hum of machinery had long turned to white noise, nothing to be heard over it. Almost the entire search party had left to finish the cleanup, leaving only Eve, Rena, Elsword, and himself behind. Current events held Elsword within the village chief’s house, Aisha and Eve accompanying him. Rena and Add were both waiting outside, sitting on one of the ledges that lead downwards into the village.

Add himself simply refused to even touch the dirt. His dynamos levitated him a safe distance above it, and he reclined back comfortably while Rena watched curiously. A tricky spark glimmered in her eye, and she smiled as she leaned over to the Psyker.

“So, Add,” she fawned, making sure she was invading his personal boundaries, “what were you really doing in the tunnel? You weren’t actually observing spores now, were you?”

Add held a straight face, demeanour uncaring. “What else would I be doing?”

She held one of her fingers to her lip thoughtfully. “Oh, I don’t know...maybe you were picking up some corrupted circuits? Or some of those codes you know Eve hates you collecting? Or, I dare to think of it, were you inspecting that monstrous creature? Maybe trying to use it?”

He let a burst of laughter escape. “Who do you think I am? A god? As much as I’d love to have power over life and death, I can’t just bring dead monsters back to life. And I’ll have you know their codes are useless to me now. If I kept every useless bit of information received from the codes I collected BEFORE you even knew of my existence, I would’ve had to rent an entire other building just to store every paper.”

Rena yawned. “Alright, I guess I can believe you were just fooling around with spores…” She pulled a familiar golden orb into view. “If it weren’t for this.”

Add jerked up, dynamos quickly rearranging to support him. “Where’d you--”

“You dropped it when Elesis jumped on you. I’m honestly surprised no one else picked it up.” She rolled it around over her two hands, her expression mocking. “So why exactly do you have one of these weird Alterasia eyes?”

Add quickly maintained a calm atmosphere. “I found it on the ground. It rolled out of one of the flowers Raven hit.”

Rena looked up at him mischievously. “Sure it did. My memory might be a bit...aged, but I certainly remember that those flowers are more than reluctant to give up their eyes...why, last time Elsword tried to pluck one, the entire stem and half of the flower came with it.”

He refrained from grabbing it from her. “How utterly baffling. One of those eyes just rolled out of its flower. What a strange phenomenon. I should definitely research it more.” He reached for it, but she swiped it away.

“Whaaaat? No way! I bet Eve could make much better use of this. I don’t think she’d mind some more research on an evolved Alterasia.” She smiled deviously at him.

Add’s temper was starting to flare. As much as he wanted to activate his armor and lunge, he knew it would only result in even less trust from the party as well as a lovely ass kicking from his favorite busty elf. It would probably serve him best to just steal the pearl from Eve later.

He frowned and stared off. “Do so, then. I’m sure she’d love it.”

Rena’s smile faded, her eyes losing their spark. “I’m sure she would,” she responded slowly, as if searching for words. “But you know who’d love it even more?” Her devious smile returned.

Add rolled his eyes. “Who, exactly? Who else is going to make use of a plant’s eye?”

“Raveeeeen~”

“Why the hell would you give it to him?” he scoffed. “What is Sir Rage Issues going to do with that?”

“Oh, yknow, he’d probably destroy it angrily or come after you for being...what was it? Traitorous? Ah, riiiiight.” 

Add scowled disapprovingly. “Raven wouldn’t care. He might be a bit screwed up, but I’m willing to bet a weird rock wouldn’t upset him.”

Rena smirked. “Oh, Why don’t we find out?” She looked off at the exit of the village, tapping her foot impatiently. “I bet he won’t mind at--”

She was interrupted by Add’s sudden lunge, which threw her off balance. She tumbled off the ledge, dropping the pearl. To her resentment, Add quickly caught the pearl in midair, his dynamos already swirling around him for added protection. Rena, however, had always been fast to recover, and she immediately flipped backwards before positioning herself for a fight.

Add simply snickered before winking at her, his form swiftly disappearing as the dynamos swirling around him crackled with electricity. They dissipated before her as well, and she stomped her powerful foot angrily as the last traces of the Psyker (as well as her next potential prize) vanished. She grit her teeth and yelled out a swear.

 

 

Well, he hadn’t thought this through. The dynamos were still linked to the teleporter that he’d made in his old lab, which was the only thing in proper condition. Almost every other piece of equipment he’d made and used had been broken or completely destroyed or left to wither and age. As his body completely manifested in the old building, he remembered the cruel moment that Eve had confronted him here. She’d come with just her slaves, which proved no problem at all. At long last the Queen of Nasods was in his hands...and then the rest of the search party had barged in. He’d had no choice but to flee, and the bitter feeling of defeat still bit at his heart to this day.

Why had he left this place to wither? To chase after some robot who didn’t benefit him one bit in the end? Surely his old lab should have been one of his safest places, an area for stress relief and private experimentation, but instead it was abandoned and left in disrepair.

His anger was already sparked by his utter forgetfulness for this ravaged place, but to top things off he’d landed directly on top of the creature’s body. Over the few simple hours it had been dead it had begun to wilt, now disgustingly squishy and spore spreading. The air felt unclean but didn’t hurt him yet, which meant he had time to create an air purifier or to at least place the thing in a sealed container before the entirety of the room’s oxygen was contaminated.

He pulled his spore ridden shoes out of the thing’s torso and trudged off to his old desk. Several burnt papers sat beneath a broken table lamp. Above the desk dozens of screens for security cameras were arranged on the wall, originally allowing him to view Eve or his old plans.

Simple times, those were. Now their screens were black and cracked, and he was left with this messy place. He let out a single sigh before cracking his knuckles and commanding his dynamos to begin the cleanup. Begrudgingly, he joined in and carried the creature’s body to the nearest intact table. It was lighter than expected, and shed even more spores onto his body as he plopped it down on the cracked furniture and wiped some of the green substance off. Slightly disgusted, he set to looking for an airtight tank that he could store it in and found a slightly cracked one after a half hour of searching. With a bit of help from his dynamos he sealed it completely shut, placed the specimen next to the teleporter, and set to repairing the computers.

 

As the day passed by, Add began to consider his options. The search party might not care too much for him but still might perform their job and actually look for him if he was gone too long. Rena knew about the pearl and had probably informed the rest of the party about his strange habits. He’d left his other works in his room along with his current food supply. If he had any food stored here, it would probably be spoiled. He didn’t have any current ED on him, so buying wasn’t an option. He figured that it would probably be best to return to his room in Sander, take the mini fridge, and leave, maybe placing a note or a small warning behind him. 

Fortunately, he did have a teleporter he’d long connected his dynamos to in that room in the not-so-rare case that one of the Elgang attempted to pester him. A fast test revealed it was indeed working correctly, and in no time at all he was back in the mess he called a room.

Well, not exactly messy; Add was a clean type and simply refused to let his room be overcome by papers, but the recent research had left it his version of “messy”. His coffee-stained desk was full of papers, all aligned in neat stacks and not thrown about. The trinkets he worked on daily were kept in a clean container and sat at the edge of the desk, past an empty foam cup. The blueprints were kept in the drawers off to the side, for his eyes only. Next to the drawers sat a half filled trash can. And next to the desk, the area that would’ve lead off to empty space, was the most important item of all: the mini fridge.

A quick check revealed it still held the contents he’d stored in it a few days ago, especially the dozen candy bars right at the back. Appears he’d have to function on energy drinks instead of coffee, but he’d manage. Unless they destroyed the teleporter here, it wasn’t like he couldn’t pop in to steal a cookie every now and then. 

He commanded his dynamos to gather the items he required along with a few tools to help with the dissection. A bit irked by the empty cup on the desk, he picked it up to throw away and noticed something odd on the desk. Sitting in the middle was a small eyepatch with a purple and black color scheme. The dark purple inhabited only a small half of the eyepatch, not connecting to the string at all. Beneath it sat a neatly written note on cream colored paper.

He picked it up and read, “You’ll need it soon.”


	2. Infection

Two full days of repair and the lab was finally ready. Add sat back for all of fifteen seconds and admired the repairs he’d made. Each once broken computer was now fixed, appearance new and shiny. He’d cleaned his desk off, neatly arranging the surviving documents despite their age and worthlessness. Every document burned beyond recognition had been thrown out and each broken tool replaced. The desk chair had been patched and straightened, and the mini fridge now held a position next to the trusty file drawers. Each original machine (even his simplest ones) were fixed and working. The most difficult part had been rewiring some of them, but he’d managed to fix those as well in under a few hours.

Finally it was done, and he could soil it all over again. Type-H had continued to degrade over the process, but even so, it had let off enough spores for his confidence in the project to remain high. The glass of the storage tank was mottled with green spores, creating a layer so thick there were scarcely any areas allowing one to see within. Though he wasn’t completely sure of Type-H’s presence behind the glass, he assured himself continuously that it wouldn’t be a problem if it was gone. 

“There are enough remains. There are enough spores,” he continued to mutter these reassuring words to himself as he approached the tank. It almost looked coated in slimy mold from within. He raised the tank up, which felt lighter now, and carried it over to the cleared corner of the lab where two metal tables stood by the wall. One held dozens of sharp utensils and the like, and the other was large enough to hold a body and was covered by a sheet. Both were set up behind a makeshift curtain system which he’d built in under an hour, not to official standards, but of high enough quality to fulfil his needs. He hoped that it would retain the spores for a bit while he worked on cutting apart their producer.

Prior to placing the tank against the wall, he turned back and pulled the curtain closed.The white cloth closed quietly and easily, enclosing him in the small space with the rotting corpse of his next project. He reached over to the equipment table and removed the small breathing mask from it. Without a doubt the air would become impure once he opened the tank, so he’d improvised; though he was doubtful the mask would keep him safe for long. A ventilation system existed in the lab, but it wasn’t a purification system, and he had to keep himself safe. Even worse, it might spread the spores over his precious machines, which would contaminate the entire lab. He couldn’t take such unnecessary risks. He’d placed barriers between the spores and the remainder of the lab to ensure such dangers wouldn’t occur. He also knew he couldn’t expose himself too much--so he’d placed a lab apron over his regular clothes and even wore the goggles usually used for chemistry.

He checked everything on the table once more before hesitantly reaching over to the tank. The silence felt unnerving as he cautiously pulled on the lid, which gave such fierce resistance that he almost called his dynamos for DP mode. But with the amount of muscle power he had, he managed to rip the metal lid off, which whizzed past his head and collided with the wall. He instinctively flinched back and dropped the tank, the green contents within pouring out.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was putrid and musty, like compost in the sun. Following the rancid stench was the decomposed form of Type-H. It was practically falling apart on the floor in front of him, spores and strange fluid falling like snow. He held his breath as he bent over to move the body onto the table and gagged as his fingers slid right into the creatures squishy skin. It was felt disgusting, reminding him of putting one’s hand into a jar of jelly, except this time it wasn’t harmless berry preserves. 

As the taste of bile began to present itself to him, he threw the creature onto the table. It splatted onto it like a dead fish, limbs hangly limply off the top. It was quite a hideous sight, lacking its visor and every yellow sphere on its body. The “wings” on its back had completely dissipated and the fuzz around its neck was in ruins. The hands and legs appeared to be unravelling before his eyes, leaving behind sticky fibers connected by thin strands of green ooze. Its color had darkened significantly, all the small flowers on it had withered, and the spikes protruding from its arms and pathetic “horns” on its head had lost their point and now bent like dead stems.

In a way he was a bit relieved to see that the creature was still intact. In its current condition a knife might actually penetrate it. In another way, he was intrigued. Instead of yellowing and losing every ounce of nutrients it held, Alterasia was transforming into mush. It was a bit grisly, but it was also interesting. 

A cough suddenly shook his body. A quick glance down revealed the spores leaking out of the tank that trailed along the ground, leaving a mushy green path to the dissection table. They didn’t appear to float as well as before, but he could see and feel them beginning to contaminate the air, slowly but surely. Silently, he cursed and complimented nature for creating such a capable nuisance as he reached over to the tool table and took a scalpel from it. Time was limited, and he had to act fast.

He started right on the head, aiming for a vertical cut. At first, the blade met few difficulties--he felt a single bump and the path it took went crooked, but that was all. A straight path was nearly impossible anyways, so he ignored it. Even if it was jagged, the cut would be made, which was all that mattered.

A point of silver poked out on the creature’s chin, and he triumphantly finished the long cut. The cut sides began to fall apart, connected by the back of the head and the persistent gluey strands of green. His hesitation grew for a mere second as they slid apart completely, but finally he bent over to quickly investigate.

As if squeezed, the viscous liquid in the head suddenly seemed to explode forward, sending a hideous wave of the stuff flying directly for him. Add jerked back, but not fast enough. It splatted all over his face and chest, dripping down like syrup. He blinked for a second before instinctively squeezing his eyes closed as it dripped down over the googles. With a clean hand he wiped it away and gagged the second it dripped onto the now soaked mask. 

Agitated, he ripped it off and immediately set to coughing as the infected air’s effects intensified. Already his chest was aching, the feeling of torn lungs filling him with dread. His head was starting to throb, but in the back of his mind he was amazed by the speed a half dead parasite had contaminated the air.

Painfully, Add staggered away from the corpse. Anger mixed with fright as he realized the entire lab would be infected and he’d lose all his work. He glared back at the corpse as it was a living being that could care at all. The head was split and still oozing, the limbs hanging off the table and body lying crooked. A scalpel was laid on its chest, silver contrasting with dark green. Next to its own table was yet another smaller one, covered in more silver tools and--

A bright green. Despite his pain, he raised himself up to see it better.  
The pill. The small green pill. The temporary cure. Directly beneath it, a slip of cream paper adorned with neat handwriting.

Without hesitation he grabbed the green pill and downed it, begging for relief from the pain in his chest and throbbing in his head. The fast acting medicine would take only a few moments once it reached its destination, but it felt stuck and only pained him more. Clenching his fists, he allowed himself to lean against the dissection table, elbow squelching into the creature’s abdomen.

It took a few painful moments, but finally he felt the effects of the pill as the pain and throbbing faded. Add sighed in relief and straightened up, pulling himself away from the creature. The evil thing enraged him, and he angrily punched it, which ended with him receiving another faceful of goo.

Back in his normal mind, Add wiped the disgusting stuff off himself as best he could and flicked it back onto the creature. He turned back to where he’d found the pill and grabbed the note, grip strong enough to tear the paper. Written directly in the center of the paper in familiar handwriting was the words, “Take when desperate.”

Add groaned and let the paper fall to the ground as he lowered his arms to the side. His action had been spur of the moment, and now that he actually overlooked it he felt slightly angrier at himself. He knew for a FACT he hadn’t placed that pill there. He recognized the handwriting as being similar to the first note’s, which he’d thrown out but kept the eyepatch. Someone else had left both items in convenient places, and in this case, they had done it directly behind him. If there intentions were ill, he could potentially have poisoned himself. 

Puzzled and concerned, Add pondered this for a moment before remembering he was on limited time. The pills were designed to protect the body from Alterasia’s effects, but only for about twelve minutes. If he was to escape this situation unharmed, it would be best to postpone the dissection and clean up the contamination it had caused. With a bit of spite lacing his actions, he began the quick process of removing the evidence.

 

 

Garpai Rock, home of the harpies. Their mission was to locate Kelaino and bring her back to Sander for negotiation. Sander had no soldiers to spare, so it was up to the El Search Party to complete this mission.

Elesis had no problems with it. She’d been once before, though only for a little while, and it seemed alright. The harpies there were a bit annoying, but a few swings of her flaming claymore and they plummeted like stones. The layout was a bit strange and difficult to traverse through, but she’d manage. It wasn’t her job to lead the charge, but she was more than excited to just participate in it.

The events of the present held her occupied for only a little bit. Potion stocks were being refilled and gear was being fixed. In her opinion, she didn’t need very many potions, but Rena insisted on filling her bag with them. To Elesis they were added weight, but even she couldn’t deny they’d carried her through a scrape more than once.

She stood by the exit of Sander Village, impatiently tapping her fingers on her claymore and scanning the horizon. There were no Trocks in sight, and certainly no harpies moving through the air. It was calm, the wind and the mills it pushed the only noise she could hear. Her gaze shifted back to Sander Village, where she could see Elsword and Rena dashing about, finishing preparations.

Elesis sighed and sat down next to her claymore, feeling fidgety. Her urge for battle wasn’t satisfied, and she’d lost her runt as well. Add was known to run off every now and then, but he usually wasn’t gone for over a day. They’d found his room mostly cleaned and plundered, and despite the carelessness of everyone else she felt a bit anxious. For one, she’d lost the person she picked on all the time, which was a disappointment in and of itself. For another, she was a bit suspicious about his disappearance. Add could be a bit lazy, but usually if they called for him to participate on a mission he joined in. Before he’d just up and left, the entire search party had been destroying Alterasia, and he’d lagged behind.

Sure, she had been a bit suspicious at first, but it had been more like a joke at the time. Now it felt genuinely worrisome. She was concerned and wary, and a small pit filled with grave foreshadowing began to open within.

 

Sanitation took longer than expected. Two hours of cleaning and air purifying, two hours of painful coughing. Alterasia had been returned to its tank, though he was doubtful he had much time left to wait before it finished melting. The single blade used was cleaned and the note from before salvaged and placed on his desk next to the eyepatch.

In his opinion, no amount of antibacterial wipes would ever clean away the mortifying experience, but it was the best he had for now. It had taken around thirty before he felt clean again, and even then he kept a fresh box on the side “just in case”. Alterasia had soiled his clothes and aprons, and much to his disgust he’d had to burn them. The smoke would have definitely alerted Velder of his presence, and they’d probably alert the search party as well. His options were still broad, but he held each with a grain of suspicion and decided it best to plan a bit more.

Dressed in his old Psychic Tracer clothes and jacket, he sat at his desk, documenting the results of the “dissection” from earlier that day. Remaining blunt, he type half a page before closing the screen before him. Add sighed heavily before leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. He felt like taking a break and just not thinking at all for a bit. Pity his actual bed was still in that shelter, but there was no way he was going to move an object of that size.

He held a hand to his forehead for a second before hunching over in the chair and reaching for the door to the mini fridge. Maybe he’d help himself to a chocolate bar or a slice of cake. That’d help lighten his mood…

His hand closed on emptiness. Add blinked in confusion before looking into the depths of the mini fridge and found it devoid of anything chocolatey. For a mere second he was frozen in a state of shock before the rage of SOMEONE stealing his chocolate set in. Before he slammed the door shut, he noticed another note, which he tore out and skimmed through.

“Equivalent exchange, no?” He read bitterly. “What exchange?! Am I being taxed for help I didn’t ask for now?” He crumpled the note up and threw it into the trash before scanning the lab. 

“Alright,” he growled, “who the hell are you, ‘helpful’ stranger? Where are you hiding in here…” He stood and commanded his dynamo to perform a scan for life in the area, rage building when it came away negative. Add could feel his hands balling into fists and now found himself needing another punching bag. 

“Fine then,” he muttered. He turned back to his desk only to see yet another note there. Without hesitation he grabbed it and held it on eye level with himself as if it was another living being. 

“Punching the air and scouring for traces is a waste of time,” he read. “Really? Who is even leaving these no--”

Another one, suddenly on the left wall. Add stared at it for a second before pulling it off. “Don’t bother asking questions you can’t solve.” His eyes narrowed as he forced himself to calm down.

“Fuck it. I’m not dealing with this.” He sat back down and held his head in his hands, trying his best to avoid a headache. 

As if by mockery, a light piece of square paper fell from the air above and onto his neck. Add felt his eye twitch impatiently as he sat up and retrieved the note from the floor. It read, plainly and simply as ever, “Deal with it.”

He tore it into little squares and let it flutter to the ground before folding his arms on the desk and slamming his head down onto them. Another flutter and light touch, which he ignored. He was officially quitting for the day. He was going to lie here and sleep for nine hours, and then he’d wake up refreshed and quit talking to the air. 

That resolution changed the second he felt a real tap on his back. A real sharp human finger. He recognized the soft flesh, the sharp nail, and the warmth that naturally emitted from warm blooded creatures.

As quickly as he could, he shot up and spun around, fist balled for a painful strike to the face. The rush of determination and vengeance faded as he saw no one there. No living beings within a hundred foot radius. Nothing except for yet another slip of paper.

“Be prepared. It begins tomorrow.”

 

 

Night time over Sander. A successful mission had captured the great harpy Kelaino, and now the search party was free to rest. It had been a long day traversing through Garpai Rock, and Elesis was more than ready to throw her claymore to the side and flop into bed. 

Raven made the food that night, resulting in her almost skipping dinner. Even then she’d left earlier than usual under the excuse that she was going to “stargaze”. Raven’s piercing yellow eyes seemed to follow her as she left, and she felt followed despite him not moving a single muscle. Slightly unnerved, Elesis ended up doing the exact opposite of what she’d had planned that night - actually stargazing.

Despite her original dislike of the idea, she now found herself enjoying it a bit. The skies above Sander were clear enough that she could make out even the tiniest of stars. The colors of each seemed to vary, like a rainbow dotting the night sky. And in the midst of it all, the moon sat as a spotlight. It was rather beautiful now that she thought of it.

Beautiful as it was, however, it still felt lonely. She soon found herself sitting up and looking around for anyone else before remembering her position by the oasis on the outskirts of the village. Elesis sighed and stood, staring over at the lights of the city. The peace of the area almost felt fake, considering what was going on in the sands outside of the village. She glanced back out at the desert and made her decision. With a smile painted on her face, she ran back into the village, eagerly seeking her younger brother.

 

Morning might have arrived, but not once did it cross Add’s mind. In this artificial purgatory, he couldn’t tell whether it was night or day. The artificial light and closed space had never once bothered him until now. He hadn’t gotten a single minute of sleep. He was being watched and he knew it, and whoever was watching him had left a warning. 

But what exactly was it? What was the warning for? He had pondered this all night (the clock, at least, said it had been all night) and come away with no answers and more questions. His curiosity and fear for himself had both been piqued. He had determined that the only solution to this problem was to stay awake and cautious, for it could occur at any time and he needed to be ready.

He’d bolted an energy drink already and now sat at his desk, reading through old documents to pass the time. Alterasia could wait; after the previous day’s incident he felt it important to find another set of clothes before actually working on the specimen. Simultaneously he just felt unmotivated now. It had held so much promise at first and probably still did, but now it simply had lost appeal. It was messy and risky work. He’d performed similar work before, but it would seem fear and disgust prevented him from continuing in this specific experiment. It felt wrong and a bit too grotesque for his type, which he found outrageous. Normally he wouldn’t have such a problem with that kind of work, right?

Add groaned and let his hands slide over his face. He was tired and sick of Alterasia already. He wanted to be free of the stalker watching him. He just wanted to sleep.

The dynamos floating behind him began to lower as the signals transmitted from their master began to waver. His head was lowering and with it his weapon. His mind was starting to fade and with it--

Add jerked his head up. No way he was falling asleep. He was not going to let basic instinct and needs overpower him.

Determination renewed, he stood and turned back to the tank Alterasia was in, ready to spend this time focusing on growing his own.

 

Four hours in and nothing. He’d placed the bit of a nasod scrap in the dish and dabbed a few spores on it with a cotton swab, then sat back to watch. It didn’t grow, which was unusual compared to his first tests as a Psychic Tracer. The Alterasia was unresponsive to the nasod metal it once ate through so well and he had no idea why. The metal was still infused with El. The results worried and intrigued him.

Preparing another dish, he scraped a few more spores out of the Alterasia tank and quickly decided on another object to use. A tad bit of improvising later and he now had a dish with a single bit of apple skin dappled with Alterasia spore. Add sealed it after spraying it with a bit of water and prepared another one, staring off blankly as he thought of another object to use. The lab held mostly metals, none of them infused with El.

He glanced down at his own hand and felt an idea. Alterasia liked living creatures, right? Anything alive gave off a bit of El, after all. It would hurt, but it would provide some lovely new specimens if it succeeded…

Mere minutes later and he returned bleeding but carrying with him a small bit of his own pale flesh. He gently placed the still bleeding skin into the dish and rubbed some spores on it. Spraying the specimens lightly with water, he sealed them and placed all of the dishes (even the one with a bit of nasod metal in it) into the small incubator he’d dug up from a year ago.

After bandaging his bleeding finger, Add moved back to his desk and pulled another energy drink out from the mini fridge. Taking a small sip of the sweet liquid, he glanced around at his work, both admiring and looking for time consumers. The lab was quiet and he had little to do. Alterasia was sealed in its tank by the incubator. The dynamos were laid on a nearby table, unresponsive. The computers were all black, waiting for use.

He contemplated what to perform to waste time when another option suddenly surfaced. A bit risky, but wasn’t everything that touched into the world of these parasites risky? He eagerly stood and moved back to the incubator, carefully pulling it out of the way. Right by the machine he’d placed…ah, there it was.

Add smiled as he raised the small container holding the Alterasia pearl. Unlike its counterpart, the pearl hadn’t rotted at all in the past four days. It was resilient and remained hard and shiny, just like a small rock. He’d been planning to investigate it anyways, so why not now?

Add strode over to the table holding his dissection tools and gingerly placed the pearl down in the center of the table, sweeping the tools to the side. He glanced around for any sort of fabric to use to stabilize the orb, saw none, and grit his teeth bitterly as he turned back to the thing. It would make cutting the thing open a pain in the ass, but he would manage. Applying safety goggles for an extra precaution, he picked up the scalpel to begin.

To his surprise, the thing didn’t roll one bit when he attempted to cut it. At the same time the blade didn’t leave a dent. Add leaned in, pressing a bit harder with one hand and holding it still with the other despite the risk and the pearls lack of movement. Still nothing, but he wasn’t letting up, this time selecting a small needle-like tool and aiming for the center of the object. Keeping his head low to remain focused, he raised his hand and swiftly stabbed the thing in the center.

Without any sort of warning the pearl suddenly burst open. For a mere millisecond joy pulsed through his body. For a mere millisecond it overcame the shock and sudden fear as--

A green burst shot out and directly into his right eye, the goggles failing to obstruct it at all. Add screamed and immediately dropped everything to grab at his face, which was now burning as if on fire. He staggered away from the cursed pearl and scratched at his eye as the burn intensified. Hot tears emerged from the stricken orb, which even hurt his hand with their scalding presence. Instinct kicking in, he rubbed and scratched at it aggressively before giving in and squeezing it shut as hard as he could, collapsing to the ground to convulse into a weeping ball. The burn intensified, and he felt like literal claws were moving through his head to scrape rusty blades and fingernails at the inside of his skull. The pain was so intense. It hurt so much. It hurt. It hurt

It hurts

It hurts

Make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it-

His body went limp.


	3. Contamination

Warm. It was warm and wet. A dull aching persisted in the right side of his head, occasionally met with a throb. His eye felt dry and something was dripping down his cheek.

Add groaned and slowly lifted himself off the ground. He didn’t know when he’d passed out; in fact the only thing he remembered was the harsh pain. A bright light, a powerful stab, and then it was gone, and now he was here.

His eyesight was dotted with dozens of dark spots which were only more illuminated against the bright, artificial background. As he recovered himself, he realized only his left scope of vision was working. Everything to his right was completely black.

Add made an attempt to open his eye and failed, then resorted to force. It was as if something was clamping the eyelids shut, for they refused to open. His fingers came away red. Add stared at the blood dotting his fingertips for a moment before he felt more of the warm substance drip out, red tears against his pale skin. Down the side of his head, he felt more fluid trickle.

He looked down to the spot his head had laid mere moments ago and discovered a puddle of blood. It had coagulated long ago but more and more fresh blood made itself apparent within it, keeping a distinct puddle shape and texture. Realization struck him as he felt the wet area of his head and discovered it red as well.

Fear and shock set in. Add forced himself to calm and immediately grabbed the side of his head as a sharp bolt of pain struck it. He barely managed to stand, the pain only worsening as he began to look for painkillers. At first his walk was a bit wobbly, but it cleared as he moved across the room to his desk, which suddenly felt so much farther away. He opened the third drawer and downed two aspirin before plopping down in his chair, trying to ignore the pills stuck in his throat. When they finally passed he opened his computer screen, checking the time with his single working eye.

5:47 AM. He hadn’t known the time when he’d passed out, but a rough guess placed it around afternoon the day before. The thought made him shiver; a small pearl shard had rendered him useless for (roughly) twelve hours. If he’d been dealing with any other area of Alterasia, anything larger, it could have pierced through more than his eye.

Add sat back and simply breathed for a few moments, glad to be alive. It had only been a small shard, and most likely it hadn’t even gone past the cornea. He had no reason to worry about his health. A small shard that had pierced through several centimeters of plastic surely wasn’t something he needed to worry about.

The ever persistent tear of blood spoke for itself, and he reluctantly stood to search for the first aid kit he had stashed somewhere in the lab. Upon discovery, he removed some gauze and tape from within it and gingerly wiped his eyelid, which gave a shock of pain upon rough contact being made. Add flinched and dabbed at it, just trying to get the blood away. Refusing to be easily overpowered, he endured the pain it gave off and cleaned the blood away with a few other disinfecting supplies from within the kit.

Taking an extra bit of gauze with him, he hobbled back to his desk and opened the drawer containing the eyepatch. He placed the square of gauze over his eye as gently as he could before tying the eyepatch over it, holding it in position. Another spike of pain protested against this action but quickly dulled, remaining an irritating ache instead of a powerful stab.

Satisfied with the small amount of care given to himself, he strode towards the dissection table and discovered the open yellow pearl on it. A quick investigation revealed three things to him: for one, the pearl had no jagged edges and showed no signs of losing any of its outer shell, meaning no bit of it had flown off. Two, it had split vertically down the middle, the smooth edge suspiciously green. Three, the inside of it was empty.

His posture stiffened as he began piecing it together. The pearl had split when he’d stabbed it. It had released something green from within it, most likely spores, which would explain why it made no sounds when shaken or moved. Whatever was within the pearl had been presumably surviving and lying dormant within it. And whatever it was, it had been released into his eye.

Add stood still before he began to laugh. There was no other reaction towards it. He was mainly shocked--shocked and unwilling to face the sudden threat possibly within him. No , there wasn’t such a thing. Alterasia was poisonous to nearly every living being; if it was within him it would kill him. Whatever had been released into his eye would be met with opposition from his own immune system and eliminated quickly. If not, he’d die. 

“Nothing big,” he murmured to himself, picking up the yellow shell. “Just a possible life or death situation. Nothing big at all.”

A loud knocking disturbed the silence of the lab, almost making him jump. Add quickly glanced around before stalking towards the door, trying to determine if he recognized the knock at all (mostly to ensure the search party wasn’t here). It wasn’t recognizable at all, and he slowly opened the door to the lab, revealing...Vanessa.

Vanessa, a leader of Velder’s troops, was the one who had originally given the lab to him. She was a stern woman with icy blue hair and a powerful demanding glare. Her attire from the war with demons was still retained, and her black dress and white cape still looked singed from the time they’d marched through the palace entrance. Usually when she visited him, she wasn’t holding her poleaxe. Add regarded it for a moment before bringing a half smile to his tired face.

“Hi, Vanessa. Need something?” he asked, a sudden wave of exhaustion and coldness forcing his small smile to fade.

Vanessa stared at him, her eyes cautious. Add suddenly remembered his eye and the bloody side of his head. He raised his hand and quickly rubbed the dried strands, trying to mess them up to look more fluffy in an attempt to appear harmless.

“L-lab accident,” he stuttered. “I was experimenting with a new type of metal on the dynamos, and it exploded. Amazing how sharp those bits can be, eh?”

She didn’t seem convinced. “Add, what is going on here?” Her voice was straightforward and angry. He managed to avoid flinching away and retreating, praying to El Lady that he wouldn’t screw up now.

“Nothing,” he said, faking confidence. “I’m just working on enhancing the dynamo, that’s all.”

Vanessa tilted her chin upwards, as if trying to intimidate him. “From the reports of Velder’s citizens, that is not the case. I’m not sure what is going on inside of this lab, but I’m afraid I’ll have to cease it.”

Add’s eyes widened in shock. “What?! But nothing is going on here! Who lied to you about it?!”

She brushed a bit of hair away from her eyes. “Recently, dozens of reports have come in regarding you. Some say that you’ve stalked them, others say that you have stolen from them, one citizen even went so far as to say you pinned them and hissed at them like an animal. Apparently, you’re now low enough to offer death threats.”

 

His eyebrows knit together in confusion. “I haven’t left this place once, Vanessa. And if whoever is pretending to be me is performing strange things, why don’t you pursue them instead of checking my lab? There’s nothing here except for a bunch of scrap metal.”

And a dangerous parasitic plant, he thought bitterly.

Vanessa seemed unfazed. “Listen Add, we have no other leads, so we agreed to start here. I’d like to have a look around your lab.”

Add avoided looking behind himself and kept his gaze upon her face, making eye contact. “So, Vanessa, who is this imposter? Describe him to me.” He spoke clearly, trying to draw her off topic.

Her glare seemed to intensify, but he didn’t back down. “The man described is 5”10, with an abnormally thin body and purplish hair similar to your own. He was described as having a slightly different hairstyle, less fluffy for sure, but similar regardless. Also, his outfit differed greatly from...whatever you’re wearing.” She crossed her arms. “It appeared more of an armored body suit and held a pink diamond in the center of it. Large collar around the neck. Three chain tails. Black and dark purple color scheme.”

Add raised an eyebrow. “So he’s similar in height and hair. What makes you think I’m him? For one, I’m not what you’d describe as ‘abnormally thin’. For another, my hair is white, not purple. And do I look like I’m wearing something full body?”

Vanessa refused to let down. “It could have been a costume. For one, all witnesses says the scar on your left eye matched. Your skin is equally pale. No one else in Velder has white hair.”

“So you just stick it to me. Grade A investigation skills. Tell me, is there anything else you could get off of these witnesses?”

Vanessa narrowed her eyes menacingly. “They said his eyes were black, and a mad smile was practically drawn on his face.”

He felt another cold wave wash over himself. Add suddenly felt uncomfortable, the feeling of someone watching him from afar starting to crumble his defenses. “Well…” he started, then quit.  
“Vanessa, it’s not me. I don’t have black eyes or purple hair or a body suit. Can I--”

“Can I look around in your lab?” she interrupted. Add groaned, realizing there was no way out of this. 

“Alright, Vanessa, fine. Just don’t harm anything.” He moved out of the way and let her through.

 

Vanessa didn’t know anything about Alterasia, so he considered this eviction a rather light punishment. His lab was temporarily made unavailable and he was left with only his dynamos, so what? It wasn’t as if the world was ending.

Add bit his lip angrily as the Velder soldiers pointed to the road leading to the port. Okay, it was that bad. He’d lost his samples and papers and all of his work. Alterasia would probably be thrown out, and the fools would start another outbreak. Of course he’d be blamed for it. To add on top of that, Alterasia samples were developing in the lab as he was lead out. Even if the corpse didn’t cause an outbreak, those potentially could.

Once again he found himself going over his options: leave and pretend he knew nothing of this, return to his lab to dispose of the samples, or run back to the El Search Party and tell them Alterasia had somehow broken out in Velder.

Currently he was planning on continuing with option one. He walked away without any objection, looking forward and even managing a smile. It didn’t seem to fool any of the soldiers or inhabitants, but he didn’t care. He’d teleport back to Sander the second he was out of their vision, and when Velder became contaminated he’d stick it to Vanessa. 

“What lovely revenge,” he said to himself slyly. Already, fair distance was being placed between him and the many buildings of the capital. Quickly looking around to check if anyone was near, he commanded his dynamos to teleport himself to the empty room in Sander. 

The ground disappeared from his feet, the world changing. Expecting his dark, empty room, Add relaxed and let himself be carried effortlessly…

And screeched as his body dropped into a disgusting purple fluid.

It was everywhere, sticky and uncomfortably warm and reeking of decomposition. He gagged and immediately his dynamos moved to lift him out of the fluid, but the damage was done. His Psychic Tracer clothes were ruined, he reeked of the dead, and only now did he feel the burn. Ugh, why was it always burning?

He wrinkled his nose in disgust and glanced around, not finding this place recognizable. Seeing a nearby platform free of the purple fluid, he flew over to it and landed sharply, purple liquid dripping off and staining the bleached dirt. Now that he was out of the fluid, he detected an even stronger stench.

Add was angry and confused. He was lost in a disgusting place that smelled of the dead. His teleporter had most certainly been thrown in the river, which meant the search party had probably given up on him and simply moved him out. There didn’t seem any form of life for miles around.

Gathering himself and his soaked clothes, he began to follow the islands floating in the river, soon coming to a large clearing. The dirt changed from pale brown to dark purple, and in the nearby stage he could see what appeared as a thorny balloon. It was red and purple and boasted a strange diamond like pattern. Add couldn’t make much of it himself, but the area appeared cleaner than the rest of this hideous place, so he trudged into it to finish recollecting himself and formulate a plan.

As he neared he saw a tent like structure, a skull hanging on the entrance overhead. Only mildly disturbed, Add sat just outside of it and looked around once more before covering his options and location. It was still warm and he could hear the sands blowing, so he had to still be in the desert. If he was in the desert, that meant Sander was somewhere nearby. It would be dangerous for him to travel at day, so he’d have to wait until nightfall. Even then he had no supplies, making scavenging a necessity. Food wasn’t a concern, so if he just managed to milk a cactus he’d be fine. He could use the dynamos to carry himself across the desert, so if he had ample shade travel would be a small problem. The search party might even be nearby, which would result in practically an instant win if he found them. 

He froze as the sound of claws scraping on dirt found its way into the clearing. Appearing right at the edge were those disgusting things. Trocks. The creatures were hideous, boasting large ears and rocky skin covered in large boulder like welts. Their paws were hardened and their feet boasted two long claws instead of toes. They were also known for their recent attacks.

Add shot up, his dynamos already moving behind him and readying for an attack. One creature came into view--probably just a scout--and he immediately pointed at it as the dynamos discharged their electricity.

“Pulse Cannon!”

The creature dropped as a dozen electric bullets ran through its body, but now he heard even more approaching. Shit, probably wasn’t wise of him to yell his attacks out loud, and he cursed the habit fighting with other people had instilled in him. Bracing himself for the oncoming wave, he activated DP mode, the electricity around his body crackling as his dynamos rearranged to form wings and hold him off the ground.

Another one appeared, accompanied by three more. They all roared and lowered themselves, glaring at him. Add smiled and glided towards them swiftly, eager to bloody his fists once more.

 

A bloody massacre wasn’t exactly what he was expecting in this strange place, but it was what he got regardless. A dozen bodies laid in the river, several others scattered on the land. He thought them revolting, turning away to continue his contemplation. This place was hostile territory, and he needed to leave as fast as possible. The dynamos rearranged, the wings vanishing as his feet touched the ground once more. He glanced around once more, searching for an exit, and finally decided to leave through the way he’d seen the Trocks come. It was risky, but it was all he currently had. 

Taking a deep breath, Add glided past the bodies and above the mortifying river, praying for an escape back to reality.

 

 

“And then I got ambushed and died. The end.”

 

“Sounds fun,” Ciel responded, finishing wrapping up his chest. “Alright, that should be the last of your physical injuries. As long as you avoid pressing activities, they should heal completely within the next week.” The half demon reached over to gather the remaining supplies and place them in the open medkit next to them. Add watched him for a moment before pulling the small Tracer’s shirt back on, cringing as it moved the bandages and a sting shocked his body. Ciel stared at him worryingly for a moment, eyes full of pity. 

“Try not to pull on them,” he began. “If you reopen the wounds, they--”

“Could become infected and worsen. I know, you told me a dozen times,” Add snapped. Ciel shrank back a bit, as if hurt by this comment.

“Fine. You’re in good health now, so I guess I’ll leave.” He gathered the kit and stood. “Call if you need anything.”

Add watched the butler leave and finally lowered his guard. He didn’t exactly feel safe around the half demon, even though Ciel was the only one who had volunteered to treat his wounds. To be frank, he didn’t feel safe around anyone right now. Wounded and vulnerable, he could be easily killed in this state. The search party definitely didn’t trust him, and with the tension so high probably would kill him on spot if he acted out of line.

Add laid down on the bare bed and stared at the ceiling. So what if he’d vanished for a few days with a dangerous parasitic plant specimen? So what if he now wore an eyepatch and had been thrown out of Velder? 

“Oh, Add?” Ciel poked his blue head back in, ponytail balanced on his shoulder. “We have leftover cookies from Lu’s teatime. Care for one?”

Just the word ‘cookie’ was enough to make the Psyker shoot up. “Hell ye--er, yeah. How many are left?” He crossed his arms, as if the gesture would make him appear a bit more serious.

Ciel smiled warmly. “Quite a few. Do you want one, two, or--”

“ALL OF THEM!” Add interrupted, eyes practically sparkling. “Shit, it’s been too long since I had anything proper to eat…” He flopped back down, holding an arm over his forehead.

Ciel disappeared from the doorway for a mere second before immediately reappearing with a tray covered in cookies. Add stared at them in disbelief as Ciel set the tray down right next to him.  
“Sweet El Lady, the mana rain does exist!” he cried before immediately narfing down three.

Ciel turned back towards the door after observing him for a few seconds. “Lu needs me. Unless it’s an emergency, please don’t cry for help I can’t give.” 

Add didn’t seem to hear him, too engrossed in gorging himself on shortbread cookies shaped like phoru heads. Everything was okay now. His wounds were bandaged, his room was clean, the missions and work was left to the search party, and Ciel had left him with enough cookies to last. He could relax now, free of worry or problem. Heck, he might even catch up on that sleep he’d been missing out on!

 

Moving the half empty tray to his desk (the other bit of furniture they hadn’t thrown out in Trock’s lair), he stood to look for a pillow and found one leaning against the foot of his bed. He picked it up and plopped back down onto the bed, not caring about the lack of sheets or blankets. Placing it at the head, he discovered another note.

His smile faded. Add picked it up and read through it, and with every word his hope and joy diminished even more.

“It only lasts for a few hours before it all goes to shit.”

 

 

“So you have been receiving these notes for the past few days?” Ciel raised the note up, examining it thoroughly. “They’re very...neat, and rather ominous. Are these threats?”

Add groaned and rolled onto his side. “Dunno. Threats, warnings, whatever…” 

Ciel stared at him, worry wrinkling his face. “Add, are you sure you’re feeling okay? You look tired. Is the blood loss getting to you?”

Psyker remained on the bed, flopping like a ragdoll. “I’m fine, “ he lied. In truth, he’d woken up feeling sick, and it had only progressed throughout the day. His limbs were heavy, his head hurt, and a low buzzing was starting to pick up in his right ear. 

The Royal Guard wasn’t fooled. “Add, how are you feeling? Cold? Drowsy? Heavy?”

“None. I’m fine.” Trying to avert Ciel’s gaze and intentions, he forced himself up, muscles screaming in protest. “Can I have a few more cookies?”

Ciel frowned but nodded. “I’ll be back,” he said as he left the room, keeping his eye on Add the entire time. “Call if you start to feel sick.”

Add waved him off, falling limply back onto the mattress and pillow the moment he was gone. The headache began to worsen, the color of the world seeming to fade a bit. The buzzing began to grow, and a splitting pain began to manifest in his covered eye.

The Psyker moaned in pain before closing both of his eyes and letting his body go limp.

 

 

Ciel briskly made his way back to the Psyker’s room, carrying another silver platter of cookies. It was almost empty, but he figured he’d bake more while Add rested. His condition hadn’t gone unnoticed, and it just worried Ciel even more. For a full two days he’d worried that Add wasn’t going to wake up, and when he had he’d devoted every ounce of energy that wasn’t put towards Lu towards the injured boy. Sadly, despite his efforts, a human being continued to wilt before him. Add wouldn’t tell him anything about his condition and left him in the dark, forcing Ciel to make blind guesses at every turn.

It hurt a little bit, but he knew Add wasn’t one to just give up his information and expose his weakness. The search party didn’t like him, and he didn’t like them. Even though it seemed a bit futile at the time, Ciel was determined to break that barrier, even if it meant temporarily leaving Lu’s side to care for someone else.

“I’m back,” he said as he poked his head inside the empty room. “There aren’t very many cookies, but I’ll make more if you--” 

The Psyker shot up and stared right at him. His posture was stiff, and his single eye was wide open. Ciel almost felt like he was staring at a puppet, but he refused to be unnerved.

He placed the tray of cookies next to the Psyker and sat down at the foot of the bed, eyeing the boy before him. Add continued to stare at him, ignoring the cookies completely. Ciel stared back for a little bit before looking to the tray and back to him, eyes curious but demanding.

No response. No movement. Stiff as a board, Add continued to hold his stare. Ciel would’ve looked away, but something was beginning to disturb him about the look the Psyker was giving him. It felt...dead. Almost as if Add wasn’t even there.

“Are you going to eat those or not?” he inquired. Still no answer. He sighed and reached for the tray, heart almost skipping a beat as the Psyker’s arm suddenly grabbed the tray and held onto it with an iron grip.

“Er...okay…” he sat back down, watching the practical mannequin before him. Add finally moved his gaze to one of the cookies and picked it up. To Ciel’s surprise, he offered it to him. “Oh, no thank you,” he responded politely. “They’re for you.”

Add blinked, his eye waxy. “Ci...el…” The sound nearly made Ciel shiver. It sounded so wrong, like a choked garble, a creature who’d never spoken before.

“Yes? Do you need anything?” He stayed put, returning Add’s look.

“Need...sustenance.”

“Then eat. I can always make mor--”

“Need. Sustenance.”

“There’s...sustenance before you…”

The Psyker leaned towards him, showing no hints of human emotion. “Sustenance,” he growled. Ciel began to edge away, keeping his eye on Add. “I’ve already provided you with what you want. What more do you need?”

“Sus--” He stopped mid sentence, freezing completely before blinking and leaning back. “Ow...oh shit, ow…” Add rubbed at his eyepatch, paying Ciel no attention.

Preventing the creeping feeling from overtaking him, Ciel leaned over, slowly moving his arm to Add’s face. The Psyker immediately took note of this and backed away, quickly covering the eyepatch with his hand. As if on cue, a stream of blood poured out from beneath it, and Add winced and lowered his hand.

Remaining gentle, Ciel slowly touched his right cheek, fingertips immediately receiving a coating of blood. “Add,” he said firmly as the Psyker grabbed his wrist, “let me see it.”

He sensed a bit of hostility and fear from Add, but the boy finally gave and let him pull the eyepatch away. A practical wave of blood poured out from beneath it, bloodying Ciel’s dark blue glove and streaming down onto Add’s neck and shirt. A bit of gauze was still attached to it, drawing a pained yelp from Add when Ciel removed it. The eye was squeezed shut, but Ciel was patient, and it took only mere moments before the blood so filled the sphere that it had to flush a bit out.

From just the bleeding he could tell something was wrong, but now that he actually saw it, he felt a bit sick. The eye was completely green, a dark green, and lacked a pupil and iris. He could see a few small patches of lighter green mottling the area where the pupil should be, and at the edges twisted several small veins. Strangely, none of them were bursted.

Add let him stare for a moment longer before turning away and reapplying his eyepatch. Ciel stayed frozen, a little shocked, before recovering himself and looking at the Psyker like a sad puppy. He tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind, and the two of them ended up staring at the other for a few minutes in silence.

“...So…” Add finally began, “how bad is it?”

Ciel bit his lip. “It’s...seen better days. You certainly might want to apply an ointment to stop the bleeding….tell me, how did you get it to turn green?”

The Psyker stiffened. “It’s green? It’s bleeding and it’s green...oh...oh shit…” 

“I don’t know of any illnesses that cause the eye to turn green. It only affects one, right?” He paused, remembering Add’s actions before. “It doesn’t affect behavior, right?”

 

“Well...I...I don’t really know. I don’t know exactly know how I got this, but it was probably from a bit of infected metal.”

“Infected metal? What were you doing with that?”

“What do you think? Enhancing dynamo. I don’t run off just to sulk and hide, you know?”

Ciel’s stern gaze wasn’t enough to break him, but he could tell Add was getting a bit nervous, refusing to meet his eye. “So how did this metal get into you? And what was on it to cause such symptoms?”

“Dunno,” Add said as he sat back. “How it ended up cutting my eye...eh...let’s just say that smacking something with a screwdriver isn’t always a good idea. Either way, it shouldn’t be causing this much trouble.”

 

“Should it cause behavioral issues?”

“Nah.”

“Explain your actions before then. Were you just playing creep, or is there another reason you behaved like an animal?”

 

Add went silent at this request. He scoped around the room, paying little mind to Ciel. More blood dripped out from beneath the soaked eyepatch, Ciel taking note of the way Add paid little attention to it.

“Add, I think we should--”

Add so rudely interrupted him by lunging forward and grabbing his neck, but not in a way so it hurt. A shock of surprise ran down Ciel’s spine as he expected the Psyker to attempt to crush him, but Add didn’t seem interested in such things at the time. He let off a strange noise, a mixture of a growl and a whine, and promptly hugged Ciel tightly, keeping both eyes shut.

The half-demon was confused to say in the least, confusion turning to shock and fear and the Psyker pulled back and nuzzled his neck. 

“A-Add, what are you--”

The single eye opened, and it was waxy like before. It advanced immediately, holding Ciel’s arms with a sudden inhuman strength, preventing him from countering with them. He felt a quick and sharp pain as the Psyker nipped the skin on his neck, drawing blood and quickly licking it away.

Ciel struggled, which only prompted the creature to hold him tighter. His chest felt rather tight now, constricted as whatever had control over Add pressed in. The Psyker pulled back for a second...and smiled. It felt so wrong, that dead eye and that cruel smile, teeth slightly reddened by his blood. Ciel wanted to lash out and see what his own demonic fangs could do, but it was already moving back in, nipping him again near his ear.

Anger replaced fear. He jerked back, barely escaping the Psykers grip, and promptly kicked Add as hard as he could in the stomach. The creature barely flinched, but the sudden pain seemed enough to break the trance Add was in, and the coating over the eye was gone immediately. He froze, blinked, and then coughed before hugging his abdomen. Ciel leaped up and darted towards the door.

As the half-demon fled he heard Add cough again, followed by a retch and an inhuman growl.

 

 

Warm.  
Warm and dry.  
Unfitting.  
Uninhabitable.  
Unacceptable.  
Sustenance.  
Need  
Sustenance

 

Add awoke sometime at night. It was dark, and the hunger cramping his torso forced him to leave the bed (which now held a single blanket) and pursue any form of sustenance. Remembering this place held a small mess hall and a large kitchen at back, he headed towards those rooms, unaware of the small figure stalking him the moment he left his own. 

His focus entirely on feeding himself, he located the kitchen and immediately began to scavenge for food of any sort. With a bit of poking around he located a bit of jerky and a bottle of some blue sweet stuff. For once, he wasn’t picky, wolfing down the items in seconds. Still troubled by the pain in his gut, he continued to search.

The figure approached him, catching him unaware. Before he could even glimpse their face, a sharp claw pinned him to the wall, dark blue points curling against his neck. An enraged and childish face glared at him, Lu’s blue eyes glaring straight into his single magneta one.

Before he could speak, she growled and bared her teeth. “Listen, you unloved, misfit creature. I know what you did to Ciel. Don’t think I will ever let you go for that. It was I who allowed him to nurse such a pathetic freak as you. If it was my choice, you’d be long gone. So listen to me here and now, reject: if you ever, EVER lay a single finger on my butler again, I’ll snap your neck with my own two hands.”

Add was tired and hungry. His head hurt and his eye was starting to burn again. Lu’s threat didn’t bother him at all, partially because he was starting to become severely unfocused and partially because something else within him refused to fear a child. Just wanting to get this over with, Add yawned and nodded. 

“Yeah...no touching your butler…”

Lu glared at him for a moment longer before releasing her grip and slowly stomping away, keeping an eye on the Psyker as she left.

Add remained against the wall, feeling dazed and in pain. A headache was starting to develop, and a buzzing was beginning to sound in his ear. The burning in his eye grew, and he felt something warm and wet trickle down his cheek. It wasn’t unbearable, but he wanted it gone regardless, and now the hunger pangs were starting to join them. A bit of drool landed on the floor as he began to creep after Lu, the world beginning to blur.

How he just wanted food. Just some form of sustenance. He didn’t care if it was dead or alive, bleeding or free of fluids, screaming and clawing or silent and still. He was just. So. Hungry.

Hungry enough to chase Lu through the house. Hungry enough to snap off one of her horns and plunge it into her shoulder as she sliced his chest open, screaming the entire time. Hungry enough to ignore his injuries and take a chunk out of her arm before Ciel arrived. Hungry enough to lunge for his neck.

Hungry enough to cannibalize without dignity or humanity.

Hungry enough to kill for a meal not even half decent.


	4. Corruption

From the moment she woke up, unease plagued Elesis’s mind. The morning was quiet and bright, the spotlight of a sun awakening her. She rolled over and let her eyes adjust before forcing herself out of bed to pursue breakfast and face the day. The area was quiet and she saw no one else around, so her mind naturally calmed and she left her guard down.

So of course, nothing prepared her for the scene in the entrance of the food court. The floor was dotted with dozens of blood puddles, ranging from the size of an eye to a pool large enough for her to lie in. Kneeling next to one of the puddles was Elsword, next to him Eve. She couldn’t see exactly what they were looking at due to the table blocking the way, but her mind was already piecing everything together, and she felt a lump in her throat as she neared and saw it.

On the floor, lying in the largest blood puddle, was Lu and Ciel. The small demon queen was beneath her butler, lying on her side with her left claw outstretched. She was bleeding from dozens of round wounds in her arms and a puncture wound in her shoulder, where Elesis saw one of her blue horns had been stabbed. The rest of her body was hidden by Ciel’s own, which was in much worse condition. He too was littered with round wounds, which ran up and down both of his arms. His clothing was torn, pants ripped to mere shorts. Large chunks had been torn out of both of his legs, especially on the upper thighs. His coat was also ripped away, and he was bleeding from a large gash on his side.

Eve was inspecting one of his arms, while Elsword was attempting to pull Lu out from beneath him. Her younger brother looked sickened by the sight, an ugly grimace ruining his face. Eve lacked any sort of emotion or facial change, but her movements were a bit choppy, as if she wanted to escape as soon as possible. Neither of them greeted her or even looked her way.

“Yo, what happened here?” she began, Elsword’s head snapping up at the noise. His eyes seemed...desperate and angry. The tiny smile she had attempted faded, and she kneeled next to him.

Elsword looked back at Lu’s face, her eyes closed and head limp. “Something attacked them. Something’s roaming our halls, and once I find it I’ll cut it to shreds for this!” His grip on Lu’s arm tightened, prompting more blood to spurt out.

Elesis blinked and slowly moved her hand over to take the girl from him. “Something is roaming our halls? It did this to Lu and Ciel?” She looked off, as if expecting the creature to be standing in the nearby hallway. “Well, looks like we’ve got a new mission,” she said as she slowly pulled Lu out from under Ciel. “We should begin by--”

A low noise from Lu interrupted her, both her and Elsword freezing at the sound of it. They exchanged looks for a moment before Elsword nodded and ran off. Elesis bit her lip and slowly pulled the child-like demon closer to her, feeling a bit protective suddenly. 

Something had attacked the demon duo in the night and practically decimated them. Something that was probably still around. Something that could threaten the search party, and even more importantly, Elsword.

She steeled her will and determined right there that she wouldn’t let it hurt her brother, even if it cost her life.

“Elesis.” Eve’s voice disturbed her moment. She turned to the nasod queen, who was focused on Ciel.

Eve was holding Ciel’s arm up and examining it. She didn’t once look in Elesis’s direction. “These wounds do not appear to have been caused by a weapon. They’re too perfect, you might say. Too round and repetitive.”

Elesis tilted her head sideways. “So what else might’ve caused them?” She asked.

Eve turned her head, eyes blank as usual. “Teeth, and judging from the shape, blunt ones. Our issue here is that blunt teeth are uncommon in predators. There are no native species to Sander that boast blunt teeth and serve as carnivores.”

Elesis shrugged. “Maybe it’s just being precise. Oh! Maybe a new species emerged! Or--”

“Or it might not be a native species at all.” Eve turned back to Ciel’s arm. “It could even be a different race. Not animal, not monster. Whatever it was, however, it ate areas of their bodies where fat would commonly be stored. The fleshy areas of the arms all have holes in them, and the deposits on Ciel’s legs boast a smidgen regardless of his work.”

“So you mean what exactly?” Elesis questioned, looking around for Elsword and a healer. “It ate them?”

“Precisely. Whatever attacked them was feeding.” Eve stood, leaving Ciel in a puddle of his own blood. 

Elesis prevented the sudden worry from overtaking her. “So we have a creature running around seeking people for food. A creature capable of overtaking the demon duo.”

“Indeed. It would appear to be a creature of great strength. Lacks the predatory fangs, instead owning blunt teeth. Seems aggressive but intelligent enough to leave its prey alive. Data input.” She began to mutter incoherent things to herself.

Elesis watched curiously before opening her mouth to question her. “So wait, they’re both alive? They lost this much blood but they’re ALIVE?”

Eve nodded slowly. “They’re alive, but both have lost enough blood to keep them in a comatose state. They are in critical condition. The creature left them like this intentionally, perhaps to return to feed again later. It appears intelligent. We should remain on guard.”

Elesis bit her lip as Eve left and Elsword returned tailed by Rena, who looked utterly distressed at the sight. The Wind Sneaker was still a good healer despite her abilities and path, and within no time at all she had scooped up the two bodies and carried them off to the infirmary. Elesis watched her take them away, worry creeping its way up her spine as Elsword followed the elf away.

Something isn’t right, she thought. Whatever attacked them is strong and smart. It left them alive intentionally. It might still be around.

I’ll find and kill it before it hurts anyone else. Evil like this won’t be tolerated under my watch.

 

 

Add wanted to sleep. He wanted to close his eyes and let this all fade, memory and actions erased. He wanted the taste of bile and blood to vanish from his mouth, for the nauseating feeling in his stomach to fade, for the ringing in his ear to silence and the pounding headache to subside.

Overall, he just wanted peace.

Peace, however, never came to monsters. It was done, and he couldn’t change it, and now he felt horrible. The hunger had been so great he’d lost control and fed on human flesh (well, partially human flesh), and he’d done it with a smile on his face. His own actions disgusted him, and he wanted to vomit and hide and forget all about them.

Something within him refused to let him do just that. Add had found several other blankets and wrapped himself up in them, hoping it would help the sudden chills he began to feel, but now they only felt like restraints. The hunger was returning, and it demanded to be sated. 

He whined pathetically and curled up as another pang struck his abdomen. The headache worsened, the ringing grew, and his eye began to throb. It was starting to become unbearable, and he knew there was a way to stop it, but it was so inhumane and cruel…

And he knew he’d do it. He knew he needed sustenance, and he’d need it fast. It came from everyone else; they wouldn’t mind sharing, would they? His vision began to spin as his skin turned cold and his limbs went limp. Yes, they wouldn’t mind. He could just borrow some more from Ciel. The half-demon wouldn’t mind. After all, Ciel offered to care for him, and feeding your patient was required, wasn’t it?

Add pulled the blankets off and sat up to leave--

And faced him. Before him stood the pest, the parasite, the tease, the one who knew.

He was just as Vanessa has described: black eyes, purplish hair, thin build, armored body suit with pink crystal in the center. He was smiling, as if enjoying the Psyker’s suffering. All of Add’s pain suddenly halted, and he felt it shift to aggression as the man tilted his head to the side.

“What a hideous face,” he said bluntly. “You should get that looked at--oh right, last time anyone looked at your face, you ate them.” The man winked.

Add growled an inhuman growl and clenched his fist, ready to attack. His eye began to throb again, and he began to salivate as he pictured biting into that flesh, though there was little fat on the bones. It didn’t matter--he was hungry, and even a bone would satisfy him.

The man before him anticipated his movement and immediately dodged, tsk-ing as he ran his fist into the wall. “Really, Lusa? Guess I should have thought better than to just approach you like this. I’ll be back. Stay put.” With those words he disappeared.

Add’s mind was too overcome to think about his words, and he scrambled around his room looking for the man and growling like a rabid dog. Thick drips of saliva began to stream out of his mouth and onto the ground, growing in size and number as he became more desperate. The hunger grew more and more intense, oh he had to eat, he had to he had to he had to

A chunk of something hit him on the head, leaving blood to soak into his hair as the piece of meat fell to the floor. Add recognized it as food--precious sustenance--and pounced on it like a cat would a mouse. Without even thinking he wolfed it down, the taste of blood filling his mouth and satisfying his cravings for a mere moment.

“So, feel better now? “ The voice sounded from behind him, and he whipped around to see the same man from before. His gloves were bloody, and his eyes were focused on Add’s face.

His mind barely refocused, Add forced himself to think and regain the tiny amount of sanity her had left. He stopped drooling and wiped the strands away from his lip and chin, forcing himself to stand straight and maintain eye contact. Trying as best he could to appear formal, he spoke.

“Who are you?” he asked, surprised at how raspy his voice had become. “What...what are you doing here, exactly?”

The being before him laughed. “Me? I’m you, idiot. And I’m here for the exact same thing.”

Add blinked in confusion. “What? What do you mean by that, exactly?”

The laughing continued. “Alright, fool, I’ll tell you my name. It’s Add, and--surprise!--I’m here for Add, too.”

“How--”

“Simple, really. I’m not from this world.”

“You developed technology to travel through worlds?”

“Mostly just time, really. There were a few...bugs, but other than that I have the ability to freely travel through time, which takes me to separate worlds. It’s not that complicated, really.”

“So you’re claiming to be me, but we don’t look similar at all.”

“Oh, of course we don’t. You’re the Lunatic Psyker. I’m the Diabolic Esper. Lusa, Esper. Simple as that.”

“...So why aren’t you suffering as well? Why am I stuck with this but you aren’t?”

At this question Esper began to laugh so crazily that Add almost felt threatened. The aggression began to build again, the headache returning. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to concentrate, not sure how much longer he’d last like this.

Esper finally calmed long enough to speak. “You IDIOT! Don’t you think I have my own problems?! If only you knew the effects of time travel on the body! It’s worse than your pathetic Alterasia!”

Add grit his teeth. “I doubt that. You aren’t the one suffering here.”

“Please, don’t judge what you don’t know.” Esper waved his hand and watched a few blood droplets fly off onto Add’s bed. “Alright, down to business. I’m going to need you to hold still.”

“What for?” Add arched an eyebrow, staring at Esper warily. His other self didn’t respond, just pulled out a syringe and walked forward. The sudden threat triggered some form of instinct in his mind, some primitive survival tactic, and without thinking he lunged.

Esper dodged, and he felt a sudden stab in his arm. Add roared inhumanly and snapped at the air before turning in the direction of the pain and finding the space empty. From nearby came a giggle.

“Wow, primitive indeed. Mastermind will love this. He’s been DYING to get his hands on your blood.”

Add forced himself to breathe, the headache intensifying. “Mastermind? Who the fu--”

“Another version of us. He’s way snappier and gets about twenty-five percent less sleep. He also is interested in your infection, enough so he captured and FORCED me to ensure that it happened.”

“But you...you’re…”

“Not easily outdone, but still got destroyed. Honestly, I was a bit too cocky that time. Oh well, now I wear another collar and chain, big deal.”

That settled it. The reminders, the headaches, the taunts, the pain… He growled, more saliva finding its way out of his jaws and onto the floor, dripping down like rain. Esper snickered.

“Pathetic. Honestly, I’m going to enjoy this so much. Oh well, gotta go for now. See you around, Lusa.”

He was gone, but his words and actions had taken their toll. Add groaned as the pain intensified once more. He crawled to his bed and forced himself to curl up, using the blankets to cover his body as the taste of bloody bile began to creep its way into his mouth.

 

 

The day had passed uneventfully. Elesis has sent out and lead dozens of search parties for the culprit responsible for attacking Lu and Ciel, but all had come away unsuccessful. The rest of the search party had spread out to search as well with the exception of Add, who hadn’t left his locked room at all that day. Her suspicions were growing, but she remained quiet about it to everyone else. She would confront this herself later.

So it was that night, when the moon glistened like the silver fin of a fish, that she crept through the hall to Add’s room. Her movements were quick and precise, her intentions clear and steeled. With her she carried her claymore, ready for an attack of any kind.

The shadows could easily play tricks on the mind, and she knew it all too well. More than once she lit up a small ember to see better, and the feeling of trained eyes following her didn’t once leave. She remained stoic, forcing herself to keep moving. All she was doing was checking on Add, nothing more.

When she reached the door to his room, she didn’t know what to expect. At first she suspected it broken, then open. It was partially cracked open, revealing a thin sliver of moonlight from within. On the ground was a dark substance, which splatted up the door as well. Her heart skipped a beat as she neared and detected the metallic scent.

Blood. She recognized the scent and the sight, and its presence on Add’s door and in his room disturbed her greatly. Add was neat and organized; the last thing he’d leave all over the floor was blood. She took notice of how the small stain turned to a puddle beneath the door, a small and sharp prickle of fear striking her chest at the sight.

Remaining cautious, Elesis suppressed her fears and slowly cracked open the door, leaning over to peek into the Psyker’s room. The stain continued from the door to his bed, and the blankets there were shivering and dappled with stains. Fresh stains. 

She could hear the sound of tearing and chewing, her grip on her claymore tightening as the fiery energy from within began to prevail through her arms. Backup suddenly seemed like the best thing she could call for at the time, but as she leaned just ever so slightly to get Raven or Elsword, the floor creaked. Whatever was moving beneath the soaked sheets froze, and she could hear it panting. She braced for an attack as the thing within it slowly rose. Just before the sheets could slip off, however, the creature whined. It lowered itself again, something slipping out from beneath the sheets as it did so.

In the moonlight shining through the window, she recognized a forearm. A human forearm, bloody and covered with round wounds. It still held a bit of white cloth on the uppermost area, which was stained with the same substance pouring out of it. Her heart skipped a beat as it hit the ground and splashed into a puddle of blood that had been gathering beneath the bed.

Every instinct she had told her to flee.This creature was dangerous. It was eating beneath those bloody sheets, possibly eating her friend, without remorse or humanity. What would it do when it finished? Charge for her? Pick the members off quietly, one by one? Drive fear into them and run them off? What would she do if that thing suddenly jerked up and lunged for her?

She steeled her nerves and narrowed her eyes. Whatever lurked over there was strong--not just any monster could take out Add himself. The man might not be as strong as she was, but he wasn’t one to give up, and she’d seen his power before--Add was not someone who was easily taken out.

Which of course only made the situation worse. This thing had taken out Add(or at least, she assumed it had) and done so silently, underneath the radar. A quiet stalker, a quiet killer. It would no doubt move on for another member when it finished its corpse. Fire began to dance in her eyes and heart as she felt anger rising in her chest. That thing would perish on her blade. She would fight for Elrios. She would win for the safety of the search party. Even if she were injured, she would slay the monster beneath those sheets and emerge triumphant.

A small fire formed on her hand, brightening up the moonlit room just a bit. She breathed in and braced herself, soothing her nerves, and immediately threw the fire into the sheets. Her claymore exploded into flames as she did so, and not a moment later the screeching began.

Whatever was beneath those sheets apparently hated fire. It screamed loudly enough to make her flinch and already she could see it tearing through the burning fabric that covered it. The flames were already spreading to the bed, though a bit slower, and it tore through both as it fell onto the ground, fire catching onto its clothes and licking at its exposed flesh. She had a moment to take it in, bloody and crazed, before it raised its head, burnt cheeks exposing green skin beneath...

And it lunged. Suddenly, her claymore was thrown from her hands, and an inhumanly strong grip was on her throat. A weight more muscle than anything slammed into her torso, pinning her onto the ground. A powerful grasp smashed her wrist onto the floor and held it. 

A hot substance dripped onto her face, thick and creamy as it slid down her cheek. Even more followed as she dared to glare the creature in the eyes. One was entirely dark green, the other...magenta. The white hair and pale skin, slightly green, was silhouetted nicely against the spreading fire behind it.

All of her doubts were replaced with horror as Add leaned down, his burnt face mere inches from her own. The skin had sustained at least second degree burns, which spread down his cheeks and over his nose. His lips were curled back in a wicked snarl, allowing drool to ooze out freely. The blunt human teeth were stained with red blood, the mouth itself worrying her the most, for she could see green patches within it.

Had this been any other situation she could’ve thrown him off and recovered easily. A fight she could win without breaking into a sweat. She was stronger and more capable than him. But this was not Add, and this would not be an easy battle. The creature on top of her was not human.

More hot, sticky drool dripped onto her cheeks and nose, green spots in it catching her eye. It was breathing heavily, sending the scent of blood and vomit to infiltrate her senses. Elesis felt bile rising in her throat as its grip on her neck tightened, causing her to choke a bit. The thing glared at her, eyes wide open, before smiling and bringing its face to her own. 

She squeezed both eyes shut and turned her head to the side, a painful bite leaving saliva and blood near her ear as the thing bit her cheek and tore away a bit of skin. Its grip tightened, and now it was legitimately choking her. Elesis coughed, and a single drip of saliva made its way into her mouth, which she immediately spat out. The creature took this opportunity and advanced towards her, eager to infect her with the hideous substance.

She ignited her free hand instinctively and reacted faster than she knew. Her fist, bathed in fire, collided with its burnt face. The creature flinched, Elesis immediately responding by kneeing its crotch and headbutting it in the chin. It growled, the headbutt causing it to recoil just a bit, and she immediately scampered away from its loosened grip. She recovered quickly and watched as the creature raised its head angrily. In the glow of the fire she saw the skin on its left cheek sloughed off, forming a disgusting, sticky pile on the ground below and revealing raw green muscle and rotting bone. 

Her claymore was out of reach by the door, and she had unfortunately scrambled to the corner. Between her and the door was the creature, already recovered and ready to lunge. It eyed her claymore menacingly before turning to her, green eye seeming to bulge forth. She prepared a fireball and glared back, unwilling to give up. The creature’s jaws parted and it roared once more, as if trying to intimidate her.

She responded by throwing the flames right at it. It struck the creature on the chest, burning away the Tracer clothes and revealing the claw scars. The monster roared in pain, except now she heard it--a genuine human cry. It stood there and grabbed for its face instead of lunging at her.

Using this to her advantage, Elesis dove for her claymore. She had barely adjusted to the familiar weight of it when a sudden force slammed into her. It had tackled her, but this time her claymore was between the two. The blade cut into its flesh, her fire instinctively lighting it and immediately cauterizing the fresh gouge. The blow sent her into the hallway and against the wall, cornered once more by the creature. It ignored the wound and focused on her neck, snapping straight at it. She had a moment to react, igniting her fist and hitting the thing on its already burnt cheek as hard as she could.

The skin was so hard she did little but tilt the creature’s head so it slammed into the wall instead. It immediately turned, jaws ready to tear her throat out just as a black metal claw grabbed it and ripped it from her.

Elesis watched as Raven spun around and threw the mutated Psyker down the dark hall. He quickly glanced down at her, checking her injuries for a moment before focusing on the recovered Psyker and balling his fist to perform a Wild Charge.

Whatever being held Add’s mind realized the threat, immediately ducking away. Elesis forced herself to stand as Raven carried out the charge regardless and pursued the fleeing monster, screaming challenges like a madman. She stood there, paralyzed for a moment with the adrenaline and exhaustion coursing through her veins and feeding the ever growing fire within. The crackle of real fire from nearby interrupted her momentary daze and forced herself to focus on the threat she’d accidently caused rather than the threat that fled from this place. 

 

 

The following day, the remaining members of the party gathered together in the mess hall. The bloodstains had been cleaned, but their scent still lingered in the air. Elesis felt sick as she walked in to sit next to her brother at the only round table in the entire room. She continuously checked the claymore strapped to her back and kept an eye on the shadows, just in case Add might have returned to lurk. 

Apparently, her fears were shared by everyone else present, for they all carried their weapons as well. Aisha kept her staff by her side and glanced around occasionally, her eyes fearful. Rena sported her bow on her hand and held a strained smile on her face. Ara and Raven both tried to make their weapons appear discrete despite the large appearance of the two, and Chung and Eve were both using their weapons as their own personal chairs. Next to her, Elsword tapped on the broad blade of his sword and watched her sit next to him. Elesis took in a deep breath and turned to everyone else

At first, she was unsure of what to say. Her mind went blank and the words refused to manifest. She could feel everyone watching her, and for once she just wanted to curl into a ball and hide beneath the table.

Elsword seemed to catch on and started for her. “So, Add’s gone batshit crazy. Any ideas as to why, so it won’t appear inhumane when I drive my steel through his head?”

Elesis closed her eyes and lowered her head as Eve spoke. “I’m investigating as to why this has occurred,” she said without any form of emotion in her voice. “I’ve taken saliva samples from the copious amount dripped onto Elesis’s face and am now working on determining what is within them. I have a few theories, but for now it remains unsolved and the saliva is still potent. I do not recommend disturbing me while I work on these.”

Rena chimed in. “Hey, Eve, what did you find on the other body? Yknow, the one that was roasted like a pig on a stick?”

Eve turned to her. “I looked into that as well. Though I cannot say I am one-hundred percent sure, I think the body belonged to someone very similar to Add.”

 

Elesis perked up at hearing this. “Similar? What do you mean by that?”

“By that, I mean their appearance is disturbingly close to his. Despite the burns and wounds all over the body, I recovered an eye and enough hair to clone him three thousand times. The iris was magenta, Add’s signature color. The hair was white. The skin that wasn’t completely burned away or scorched was pale like Add’s. And upon inspecting the face…”She glanced away briefly before looking back at Elesis. “I discovered that the scar on Add’s face was intact, but only above the eye. The cheek had been completely ripped away and devoured.”

Elesis felt cold shock rising within her. “So...the corpse looks exactly like Add.”

“Down to the scar and eye color. I do not know of any humans with white hair that are so youthful. And one thing I certainly know is that no one else has that exact same scar or eye color.”

Elesis swallowed hard and attempted to think this information over when Ara broke in.

“Is it possible Add has a twin? Maybe he never told us, or…” Ara stopped, realizing what she was saying.

Eve stared at her disapprovingly. “I’m highly doubtful that a twin of Add would exist. If you recall, Add is not technically from this time, like me. What are the chances that a twin, if he had one, would make it into that ancient library, survive off the few resources discovered there with him, and only now surface?”

Ara bit her lip and looked away. “S-sorry. I just wanted to try helping.”

The Nasod Queen disregarded her and turned to Elesis. “Elesis,” she ordered, “inform us of Add’s appearance last night. I know you saw him closest and for the longest duration of time. Describe everything out of the ordinary, if you will.”

Elsword looked at her worriedly, and Elesis sighed before beginning. “For starters, he - at least, I think it was him - was EATING a corpse while hiding beneath the sheets, so that’s one thing. When I shot a burst of fire there, he started screaming like…” Though she thought long and hard about it, she couldn’t recall where she had heard those screeches before. “Like...I don’t know. I just know that wasn’t human. So he tackled me, and definitely the first thing I notice is how he’s drooling on me like he drools over chocolate ice cream. It was green, too.” She remembered the flesh sliding off of his face, so smooth and dead, and shivered. “He tried to bite me. I don’t know why he didn’t just snap my neck or choke me right there, but he chose to avoid the kill. And then I punched him to get him off, and then…” She swallowed. “The skin on his cheek slid off, and beneath it there was something fibrous and green.”

Everyone save Raven and Eve gasped. She saw Aisha covering her mouth and Rena’s smile tightening to a thin frown. Ara was already staring at Chung worriedly. Next to her, Elsword leaned on his elbow and sighed.

“So Add’s turned into a plant now. Great, what’s next, Chung turns into a river otter?”

As if struck by something, Eve’s eyes widened. Her voice held the slightest tinge of emotion as her drones suddenly shot up and circled around her. “Elsword, you buffoon! You and your IQ of a rock figured it out!”

 

Before Elsword could react, she was already gliding away, heading straight for her own lab. Elesis watched her go and thought over what she’d said. As realization struck her she felt her stomach fall. Elsword watched her run out, holding a hand over her mouth as she took off for her own room.

 

~

Before him, Esper blocked the way.

“No, Lusa, I think it’s best if you stay here. After all, you’ll be cut to pieces if you leave now, like this…”

His smile was so cruel and annoying. Add wanted to grab his jaw and rip it off. He wanted to tear that collared neck apart. A low growl was enough to make the Esper summon his dynamos.

“Now now, Lusa, don’t look so mad. I have something better for you…”

He heard a distant scream, and suddenly a white haired boy was dropped onto the ground in front of him by an overhead portal. The boy looked up, magenta eyes fearful, and immediately scrambled back towards Esper. His white clothes were stained with dirt, and his pale hands and head were bleeding.

Esper grabbed the boy’s head, thin fingers digging into his temple. “Stay still, you worthless base,” he warned. “Your only purpose is to be a snack for our lovely friend here, and if you won’t willingly serve your purpose I will force you to.”

“LET ME GO!” The kid screamed as he forced Esper’s hand off of his head. A growl from behind him was enough to bring his terrified look to Add. He froze and trembled like a scared rabbit as the Psyker kneeled next to him, getting a closer look at his face.

Without a doubt it was himself. The young version, fresh out of Elder, maybe not even having betrayed Wally yet. His dynamos weren’t advanced enough to be of any harm in the first place, even if he had them with him. His earpiece was gone, and Add could smell blood coming from his ear.

Without thinking he moved his hand to the back of the kid’s head and forced it forwards. The tiny struggle his past self put up was of no use as the Psyker bit his ear and promptly tore it away. A small yelp of pain was quickly stifled as the jaws moved to his throat.

Esper watched as the evolved Psyker began to consume his prey, which struggled weakly beneath him. The Add he had pulled from the past came from a world that died before he met Eve--not that it really mattered. He was doomed anyways, so why not put him to a good cause? After all, cannibalism evolved Alterasia faster, but self cannibalism…

Now that was an entirely new level of fast.

 

~

 

A day had come and gone. Elesis had spent her time cutting down dummies, incapable of doing much else. For once the search party was...tranquil. No one seemed willing to leave for missions or training, and she had been alone in the field all day. She retreated at nightfall and entered the mess hall for food Rena had made, the scent of tangy cactus permeating through the air.

It had become their gathering place. The table had been set for eight, Lu and Ciel’s places abandoned. In the center was a small bowl filled with a turquoise fluid. On each of the plates, a salad had been made, along with small cactus spines for dipping. Though everyone was gathered, no one was eating.

The dead, dry heat of the air felt appropriate. No one spoke, their mouths forming tense frowns. Occasionally, someone would glance up from their plate and their lips would twitch, as if they were about to say something but decided not to.

This went on for a full ten minutes before Eve sighed and spoke up. 

“Judging from the silence in this room, I can determine you are all afraid, depressed, or simply on the lookout.” She cast a glance at Chung and Raven. “Regardless of your status, however, I have some news regarding our most recent issue.”

All eyes were on her as she continued. “Thanks to Elsword’s suggestion, I decided to further investigate into the green in the blood rather the blood itself. I found the same samples in the saliva, and from the tests I’ve run, both visual and physical, I can conclude that we are dealing with a reanimated threat.”

 

Raven glared up. “Reanimated? So now our enemies are coming back from the dead?”

Eve stared over blankly. “Both yes and no. First of all, we’ve known this one to be a survivor. Second of all, it has the ability to revive its entire species from a mere seed. Third of all, it had the capability to animate corpses in the first place. At first, we thought it’s powers limited to only Nasods, but now I can see that it is indeed different.”

At the word “Nasod” everyone looked up, the same fear sparking in everyone’s eyes as Eve finished. “Alterasia has returned, and it now has the ability to infect humans. It would appear our first victim is Add.”

Elesis shot up and slammed her hands down on the table. “But how exactly?! We burned every last trace of the thing! I was there! It was MY fire that did the deed!

 

Rena glared down bitterly. “I know how,” she growled as she folded her arms on the table. “It was that pearl he had. I knew I shouldn’t’ve left him alone.”

Eight pairs of eyes focused on Rena as she spoke. “I saw it fall out of his pocket when Elesis tackled him back in Altera. I picked it up and hoped to use it to gain a bit of information as to why he’d lagged behind, but he stole it and fled before I could pry much out. I figured it wouldn’t be of much use to chase, but it appears I was wrong.”

Ara’s voice butted in. “I saw it! I saw the pearl fall out! I just…” She glanced down at her hands. “I thought it was a bit of jewelry, like a bead or something. I guessed he was going to use it to make something like a bracelet or a necklace for…” she trailed off before shaking her head. “Nevermind. Anyways, I saw it too!”

Chung nodded. “I saw it as well; it wasn’t exactly what you’d call concealed, Rena. I was going to confront him about it once we got to town, but you called for me to help assist in eliminating Alterasia remains, so I figured I’d do it later.”

Elsword and Aisha piped in with similar speeches, Elesis and Raven the only ones still silent. They exchanged looks briefly before Eve began to speak again.

“Alterasia has returned, but currently it is confined. The problem with human parasites is that they cannot spread easily. The spores are limited to Add’s body, so we don’t have to worry about them getting on our clothes or in the air we breathe.” She looked back at the hallway. “The only thing I would truly worry about is bodily fluids.”

“So does that mean Lu and Ciel have been infected?” Aisha asked, holding her staff over her shoulder. Frost was slowly spreading across the wood from her fingers. “It was Add who attacked them, right? If he actually bit them, then the saliva would mix with the blood.”

“Indeed. I wouldn’t rule out that the duo could be infected. They have remained comatose for now, but eventually they will have to wake up to feed, and when they do we’ll determine the place their minds are in.” Eve sat down. “Be on the lookout for Add’s return tonight. Elesis, warn the villagers of Sander. He’ll need to eat eventually, and since Alterasia cannibalizes for energy, he’ll most likely target another human.”

Elesis lowered her head to stare at the vegetables on her plate, not paying attention as Rena attempted to coax everyone to eat.

 

 

The night was quiet. Elesis had just finished assigning guards and dealing with the sudden panic, and she was more than ready for bed. Staggering into her room, she threw her claymore to the side and flopped onto the bed, not even bothering to pull the blankets on. Outside, the wind blew slightly, and a cloud covered the moon, blotting out the light that once streamed through her window.

 

A thump awakened her. At first she thought she’d imagined the noise, which sound like a body being thrown. Elesis slowly raised her head, eyesight blurry and eyelids unwilling to stay open. Her first instinct was to go back to sleep, but the following THUD snapped her out of her sleepy daze. She shot up and looked around before tumbling out of bed and picking up her claymore. Fire flared in her veins along with adrenaline, effectively waking her up.

Another thump, this one closer than before. She couldn’t trace the exact point from where it came, but she knew it sounded to be outside, which was rather reassuring. She listened again, received silence, and crept out to look for the threat.

It was Raven who was supposed to be watching the area tonight, so she felt no need for backup as of now. At first she prowled the hallways, looking around for enemies and finding none, before slowly moving towards one of the exits. She cracked it open just barely and peeked out, seeing the town empty and free of dark shadows. Elesis slowly opened the door, causing as little noise as possible, and slipped out to investigate.

She made it about four steps before the door slammed behind her. Her entire body whipped around and she immediately held her claymore out defensively. Nothing was there now, but something HAD been there, something with intelligence about doors, so it obviously wasn’t a Trock. Her pulse quickened as she charged after it, careful to move quietly but swiftly.

There was no trail, but as she maneuvered through she heard something breathing heavily, followed by a familiar moan. She raised her head to listen, determining the sounds to be stemming from the temporary infirmary Lu and Ciel rested in. The fire in her veins began to flare down her arms as she neared. Clutching her claymore closely to her side, Elesis sneaked over to the open door and pressed herself against the side wall before peeking in.

Inside, looming over the body of Ciel, was Add. At least, what remained of him was. His original clothes had been scorched away by the fire, leaving only a few burnt threads on his chest and singed shorts down to his knees. An area of his cheek was completely green, and she could see from the dozens of burns on him that this was a reoccurring color. He no longer wore gloves, and in his hands he held a chunk of flesh, still bleeding.

Elesis didn’t have to guess where he got it from. She felt her gag reflex activating as he bent over Ciel and kissed the Royal Guard, filling the poor demon’s mouth with more of his gross green saliva. Following this action, he tore the flesh piece in half and stuffed it into his patient’s jaws. He repeated the same procedure with Lu.

Elesis was a bit confused as to why he was doing this, but when she remembered what Eve said about transfer the realization hit her. Lu and Ciel were infected, so Add must be trying to speed up the infection process! Or if they weren’t, they sure as hell were now.

Three Alterasia patients, all who would be enhanced and bloodthirsty. She shivered and tightened her grip on her claymore as Add coughed and began to shamble to the doorway, his movements slower than before. The Psyker was unusually choppy and hesitant, moving with difficulty. 

She breathed in and out to calm herself. Her sudden tactic was clear; ignite her claymore and behead him the moment he reached the door. She would have to kill Lu and Ciel as well, and it hurt her inside, but she must do what was best for Elrios. As he came closer, she stood and readied to engulf her blade in flames.

Something sharp tapped her shoulder, and when she turned her head to see who it was she came face to face with a pair of black eyes. Their owner was smiling cruelly. “Boo.”

It surprised her more than anything, but the action was enough to trigger her to jump back, and she did so right into the doorway. Her eyes widened as she whipped around to see Add eyeing her like a hawk did a shrew. His eyes were unusually hungry, and more disgusting green saliva was oozing out from between his closed lips, which were curving back into a smile. Her eyes immediately moved to his neck and she gripped her claymore with both hands, instinctively brandishing it towards him.

The defense would have worked had it not been for the black-eyed menace’s sudden attack. While her focus was on the infected creature before her, the demonic one laughed and drew her attention towards him. A flash of purple, and then a shocking pain caused her to convulse. She screamed in pain, and in that time she was immobile the creature pounced, seemingly uncaring about the bolts climbing up its arms.

Those same arms slammed her own onto the ground, exposing her throat and chest, and the creature kneed her in the stomach with inhumanly strong force. Elesis coughed and closed her eyes in pain, the dull shock of it leaving her with nausea. The shock had finally subsided, but its damage was done. Exposed and vulnerable, Elesis’s flames were useless. Her pain was too great for her legs to be of any use, and she couldn’t headbutt the creature let alone lift her own head. Keeping her eyes closed, Elesis waited for the teeth to tear through her throat as the warm saliva dripped down onto it.

It advanced. She felt the hard teeth on her neck, the pressure of human jaws trying to tear through flesh, and a hot tongue already pressing down on her flesh.

“That’s right. Tear her apart. Leave an example. We have work to do and samples to add, Type-K.”

It froze. The creature on her stopped moving, the force it placed on her letting up as she opened her eyes. Her neck and breasts were coated in saliva, and the thing was looking down at her with a green eye and a magenta one. For a moment, she thought she saw a glimmer of recognition in the magenta one.

And then the creature stomped on her stomach, leaving her to curl up as she spat blood onto the floor. It raised itself, looked her over, and turned towards the black eyed creature in the doorway. Black edged Elesis’ vision as what used to be Add stepped towards the demonic thing. Her eyes fluttered shut in pain, but her ears picked up the black-eyed thing’s terrified scream.

“NOT ME YOU IDIOT! GET OFF! LET GO! AGH! NO! STOP I--”

She heard something tear and bone snapped. The screaming stopped. A warm substance splashed onto her leg. Something bony clattered next to her. Another thump. The sound of flesh hitting the ground. The monster roared...or was it laughing? A hideous mix of the two echoed through the halls. From nearby she could hear the rest of the party awakening, and Elsword’s battle cry angrily layered over the gritty half roar. She could hear Elsword running towards her as fast as he could, and the creature growled loudly at his approach.

It stopped. She heard something scrape on the ground as a slash cut through the air, and wood splintered. Another drag, and then…

All she heard was the loud, thundering footsteps around her as the members of the El Search Party crowded around. Elsword said something about chase, and then three of them were gone. She managed to barely crack her eyes open, viewing the world through slits. In front of her she saw Rena’s feet and legs, Aisha’s knees, and…

A coating of blood.


	5. Resort

Alterasia. Type-K. The black-eyed demon. Elsword. Lu. Ciel. Raven. They circle, slowly closing in. Jaws open, green saliva oozing out, their limbs adorned with small spurs. They circle around, trapping their victim. The growls and grumbles are all that can be heard. Their faces dead save for that one. The one standing like a normal human, flaunting its wings and spines like decorations. It advances, smiling cruelly, holding a hand out. A pressure, a cold smile, a single movement, and…

The neck snapped, and laughter rang through the air.

 

Elesis awoke with a start, sitting up and immediately falling back as the shock from her abdomen protested against her actions. She held still for a moment, letting it dull, before slowly sitting up. The pain intensified, but not so it wasn’t tolerable. She looked around the infirmary slowly, seeing Lu and Ciel’s dripping bodies and a small table next to her covered in--

Her gaze shot back to Lu and Ciel. The mere glimpse she’d received before made the situation so much more docile, but now her eyes took in the full sight. From the bodies of the demon duo oozed a green, pus like substance. Every wound they had secreted it, covering themselves in the fluid. On their necks, she could see traces of blood where they’d been cut. The blood merged with pus to form a small river of body fluids, which ran off the bodies to the floorboards below.

She suddenly didn’t feel so eager about hopping out of bed. The large puddle was growing by the second, already nearing the foot of her own bed. She felt like she was going to spit up as she forced herself to slowly move and flee this place.

The moment her foot touched the ground she heard someone dash in. To her surprise, it was Elsword. He was wearing a frilled pink apron and carrying a mop, bucket, and cloth. He looked more shocked than she was about her brother taking on cleaning duties and froze as four shades of pink flushed his cheeks.

Elesis smiled warmly. “Nice frills, bro~” she purred, grin widening as he immediately attempted to pull the apron off. “Aw, don’t be like that! It looks adorable on you!”

Elsword finally succeeded in pulling Rena’s pink apron off of himself and immediately threw it onto the table. “I wasn’t--I was just wearing it because Rena made me! She won’t let me spend time here if I’m not helping out!”

 

Elesis’s grin faded. “You’re spending all your time he--” Her face brightened as she realized what that meant. “Awwww, c’mere you!”

Elsword dropped the water filled bucket as she tackled him and mussed his hair up. Despite the pain and her wounds, Elesis remained strong as ever. His attempts at pulling away only ended with her bear hugging him, leading to his inevitable giving in. Her little brother simply went limp and waited for his own weight to force her to let him go.

 

 

“So what’s the report? How’s everyone holding up? Seen any of Add? And why are those bodies still here?” Elsword only seemed to be partially paying attention to her questions as he took to cleaning up the vile substance coating the floor.

Elesis pouted. “Cmon, at least tell me what happened to sir black-eyes! Where is he?”

Elsword scrubbed harder, pausing occasionally to focus on answering her. “Eve took the body. She says that--”he dipped the cloth in the bucket--“this guy is way too important to ignore. Something about black blood and a collar.”

 

“So what does he have to do with Add? Other than the fact that he seemed to be commanding the thing and then got torn apart by it?” Elesis leaned forward as her brother finished scrubbing the floor near Ciel and moved on to Lu.

“I dunno sis. All Eve said is that we better watch out. She said that the samples are almost full of spores, enough so that the freak from last night will be mostly Alterasia by now.”

“I’ve only been out a day?”

 

“A little bit longer, but yeah, nothing big.” Elsword finished and threw the cloth in the bucket. “Rena said you should be fine in a week, but you’ll have to avoid battles until then.”

Elesis balled the ends of her sheets in her fists. “What? Come on! I can’t just stay here while everyone else is fighting Alterasia!”

Elsword smiled at her cockily. “Aisha and I both have fire, and Raven has been working on relearning his explosive fire moves. Don’t worry sis, Alterasia will be dead before you’ve even regained your balance!” He winked and left the room, carrying all items save for the apron with him.

Elesis sighed and flopped back, blowing her bangs out of her face. So she was rendered incapable for a few days, expected to just sit back while everyone else fought against their reborn threat. She huffed and stared at Lu and Ciel, still dripping blood and substance, and then realization hit her.

“RENA!”

 

The elf came running, sliding into the room and already poised for battle. Upon seeing just her, Rena straightened up and tucked a bit of her bangs behind her ears. She smiled politely at Elesis. “Yes? You need something?”

 

Elesis turned to the bodies. “Remember the nasods we fought who were infected with Alterasia? The ones who were supposed to have deactivated hundreds of years before?”

Rena’s smile faded as the thought crossed her as well. “But this is a new strain! And reviving living flesh is much more difficult than bodies made of metal. It’s very unlikely, Elesis.” She walked over and folded her apron up before pressing it to her chest.

“Still,” Elesis said clearly, “I don’t think we should keep them here. Isn’t the mess alone reason enough to burn them?”

Rena nodded and rolled her eyes. “Eve wants them kept, but she doesn’t have anymore room in her lab. I don’t know if she’s forgotten about the ability to resurrect the dead, but I’ll inform her immediately.” She turned to leave and cast a merciless look back at Elesis. “If they so much as twitch, burn them to ash.”

 

 

The day went by slowly. Elesis wasn’t used to being bedridden and monitored every moment of the day, which she began to see as more annoying than anything else. She loved her brother and certainly enjoyed all the attention Rena gave her at first, but as the hours dragged on she began to feel uncomfortable about the constant watch. At the end of the day, when Eve called for another gathering, she was genuinely relieved to finally stand (despite the sharp pain in her gut) and move around a bit.

Rena escorted her, Elsword going ahead but still keeping an eye on them. Elesis felt babied; why did she need a guard for a simple walk down the hall?! When Rena finally let go of her, she resisted running off and blowing a hole in the wall with her fire. Sterile periods for her were just torturous, and the fire within her was starting to flare as her excitement of simply being able to walk grew.

The familiar table held no food tonight. Ara was missing, so Elesis assumed she was cooking something. She walked over and took her rightful place next to her brother, casting looks around at everyone’s faces. Chung and Raven seemed grim, while Aisha looked worried and Rena herself appeared rather bubbly. Eve’s perfect poker face remained as she joined them last, carrying a white collar in her hands. She placed the item on the table and scooted it forwards to the center before beginning.

“Chung. Raven. Aisha. Did you find anything while you were out hunting?”

 

All of them shook their heads. Eve sighed and momentarily closed her eyes before turning to Elesis. “Have your wounds been causing pain today?”

Elesis shook her head and smiled brightly. “Nah, nothing I can’t handle! Oh yeah. Eve, why the heck are those bodies still in the infirmary exactly? Do you know how much of a mess they’re causing?”

Eve blinked coldly. “We have nowhere else to store them. I heard your complaint of Alterasia reviving them, and I will inform you that the blood samples taken have little amounts of spores in them. I currently believe slitting their throats washed out the buildups, therefore lowering the levels and expelling the threat of reanimated corpses attacking us at night.” She folded her arms. “I will dispose of the bodies once I am finished with the black-eyed man.”

Elesis perked up at this. “So what didja find out about him?” She asked briskly, a few sparks flying off her fingers. Eve eyed them, the faintest touch of anger forming in her orange eyes, before answering.

“From blood and saliva tests, I have determined the body to be highly toxic. It has not necessarily been contaminated with Alterasia, but the black substance that oozes from the open throat and eyes is very...concerning. I can’t decipher what it is made of, but the mix is rather disgusting. It stains practically anything and holds a consistency similar to rotten fruit. Why the organism produces such a hideous composition is beyond my knowledge. I have decided to make it my side project.”

 

“Then what’s your main project?” Aisha piped up, leaning towards Eve. “Are you going to continue investigating Alterasia or this corpse? We can’t have both at the same time, Eve!”

Eve turned to her, remaining stone faced. “I have decided to plunge all my effort into unmasking the creator of this collar.” She pointed to the shiny white collar in the center of the table. It looked relatively smooth, made of a white metal to resemble a dog collar with a sharp and puffed dip at the front. The outer design was quite simple, but Elesis could catch a few small rivets and boxes lining the inside of the collar from her point of view.

Eve took the collar and held it up. “This collar is amazingly complex. I’ve already discovered quite a few systems for storage, electrocution, devotion to avoidance of removal, a suicide system, and a communication device. Whoever made this and placed it on the black-eyed man was determined to keep it on him.” She tapped one side of the collar gently, and they all watched as a rather thick needle shot out of the presumed back of the collar. 

Eve pressed it again, and the needle retreated. “The needle originally carried a fluid to be immediately injected into the spinal cord. It would cause death in under sixty seconds once used.”

Raven’s eyes narrowed and he turned away, the corner of his mouth twitching impatiently. Elesis gazed at him for a few moments before returning her sights to the collar. 

Eve tapped the front of the collar. “This area is much bulkier compared to the back. I found it opens to store small samples and the like. Within it I found an Alterasia pearl and a tiny sealed container holding six blood droplets belonging to Lu. I believe this black-eyed man was carrying these samples to deliver them to his master.”

“But who would be he be working for exactly?” Frost had spread onto the table from where Aisha’s fingers touched. She looked anxious, and her powers were beginning to show it.

Eve lowered the collar. “I’m still working on that. Whoever made this collar is certainly capable of skills similar to my own, though inferior without a doubt. They most likely have connections to the Alterasia. Perhaps they know more than we do about this new strain. To finish this gathering, I announce that all my time will be spent discovering the creator. If I can get this communication device to work, then most likely--”

“Esper!”

The voice startled everyone. Even Eve’s face held a bit of surprise as she stared down at the collar in her hands. A small slot had opened, revealing a tiny speaker through which a tired and cranky voice sounded.

“Esper! Where are those samples?! I’m in desperate need of fresh ones! The spores have grown wildly since exposed to your DNA, and I had to kill them! Come on, don’t be silent! We’re in a dead end situation here!”

No one knew what to say. Elesis could swear the voice was familiar, but she couldn’t exactly pinpoint it, which made her a bit angry. Eve raised the collar slightly higher and stared at it, ready to speak when whoever was being voiced through it grunted and let out a frightened yelp.

“ACK!” They heard a crash and a crackling noise, followed by a familiar roar. Another crash, followed by a yell. The noises faded, and the speaker returned, panting. “Ugh...Esper, I’m not going to beg. Answer me or I’ll activate the shocker.”

Eve responded by placing the collar on the table and folding her arms as it suddenly buzzed. They all heard the speaker sigh. “Why are you so quiet, exactly?” Though faint, Elesis detected panic. “What happened?! Was your mission a success or not?”

The silence remained, but Elesis could see her brother twitching.

Whoever was speaking sounded crestfallen. “Esper, please. You’re okay, right?” When no one answered, they sighed again. “Alright, fine. I’ll just come to you. If this is just one of your pranks, though, I’ll send Apocalypse after you.” The voice cut to static which quickly faded.

Eve’s eyes seemed to shine for a mere moment. “They’re coming to us. How fortunate. I’ll check for a tracker. Resume your hunting parties and keep an eye out for anyone suspicious at all.” She turned to Rena and Elsword. “You two, stay on guard.”

They both nodded, and Elesis stared at her curiously. “Do I get to help out too? I can still fight!”

Rena immediately shifted into mom-mode. “No way! You’re freshly injured and scarcely healed! If you get another similar injury, those wounds could be life threatening!”

 

Elesis pouted. “Who says I’ll get hurt?”

Rena glared. “Who says it can’t happen? How do you think this will affect Elsword? How do you think your death will affect the rest of us? You’re resting, and that’s that.” She stomped her powerful foot and almost cracked the floor.

Elesis scrunched up her nose and looked away, no energy for argument left. A crash sounded from nearby, and moments later Ara ran out holding a dozen plates of food. She almost tripped several times before practically falling onto the table and almost losing all of it right there.

Everyone turned to watch her as she recovered, quickly set the plates back into proper position, and folded her hands neatly at her waist. “It’s ready!” she declared happily before noticing the white collar. “Um...what were we discussing here, exactly?”

 

 

It was broken and disgusting, but it was his. It oozed green fluid, but at least he could move it again. The pain wasn’t gone, but it wasn’t unbearable.

His body was finally his again. Add still had a headache and a painful throb in his eye, but at least he could see straightly with his single working one. His mind wasn’t completely clear, but he could think now. The world was no longer blurry, and the burning pain coming from all over had subsided at last. 

He partially felt like he’d awoken from a long nap--if naps were trips filled with pain, it would a perfect description of it. There was no distinguishable memories not related to pain, and he brushed over most of them anyways. For all he cared right now, the past was the past, and control of his own flesh had finally returned to him.

Adds first motive was to investigate the physical changes in both the environment and his body. He’d awoken in some ruins, shaded by the crumbling structure above. The night was almost as bright as day, the ground was entirely sand, and the air was dry. He was still in Sander, most likely in the ruins near the town. Around him were scattered rusty chunks of sand, and he could occasionally make out a solid piece of flesh.

The actions taken before he’d awoken were obviously disgusting ones, but Add had no time to focus on them now. He hadn’t held any control over his body when he’d done such things, so why should he be held guilty? Despite his conscience saying otherwise, he shoved it aside before looking down at his own arms and hands.

They were covered in flaking blood. His outfit had drastically changed, the gloves gone and his shirt in threads. His arms and chest were covered in burns revealing green skin beneath, and he found the same on his legs. Running along all the bone on his hands and arms as well as the back of his legs were dozens of tiny spurs, each hooked on the end and holding a tiny yellow dot in the center of them.

Applying pressure to the green spots revealed them to be tough and fibrous, clearly plant-like in nature. Whereas most would panic in such a situation, Add felt fascinated. His body was becoming more like Type-H’s, and without a doubt his physical abilities had been enhanced as well. Power he’d suffered so much for was finally his.

Now all he had to do was test it. The corrupted Psyker glanced around, a mad smile painting his face. Not a single life form could be spotted, and he was so desperate to attack something…

Clarity hit him like a stone on the back of the head. He was celebrating the corruption and degradation of his own body as if it was a new training regimen. From the corruption of his mind, he’d killed and cannibalized other human beings. Add wasn’t known for mercy or compassion, but even he was higher than that.

The Psyker forced himself to focus. He’d lost control of his body days before and was only now awakening after a probable binge had occurred. Most likely he’d made an enemy out of the search party and all of Sander, and word would be spreading if Alterasia could be passed on. An Alterasia monster reincarnated into the body of a mad genius...well, wouldn’t that be a tale?

 

A lovely tale and a lovely way to get himself killed. If he didn’t go mad and fly into a frenzy, he’d be hunted down. There was no way he could fit in with society anymore, not with the new cannibalistic tendencies of the parasite lurking in his body. If he ran it’d activate again and he’d return to square one. If he hid it would be only a matter of time until he was caught without a weapon and without any humanity. He could turn himself over, but the only option that seemed to await that was a painful life of experimentation and death. At the back of his mind, a faint voice that didn’t belong to him suggested another option--one that was gruesome and merciless. Even as a host to Alterasia, he didn’t quite enjoy that plan.

Add sighed and looked around, taking in the stone and dark sky just outside of it. Hiding was no option, running was cowardly and foolish, confrontation and containment only lead to a life of misery. There was always the final option, the one that removed all threats, but was he willing to do it? For who, exactly?

 

New knowledge crossed his thoughts. His body had greatly changed and he’d been dormant for a few days, so why was he awake now, when it was almost fully matured if not completely? In any case, he shouldn’t hold any control right now, so why in Elrios was he awake right now?

Probably for no good reason, he thought bitterly.

Add bit his lip and stood, the knowledge of his decision hovering around him like a cloud of flies. It bit at his mind and body, and he felt hesitant to even begin to walk towards Sander, but he forced his reluctant body to. His decision was made and there wasn’t a force that could stop it.

The throb in his eye increased, and he began to doubt that last statement.

 

Aisha did not think she would be spending her night hunting for an unknown creator or parasitic monster. When she’d returned from a long day, she’d been looking forward to a lovely dinner and several hours to practice and read novels. Instead she was assigned leader of a party made up of soldiers, not mages, who seemed fresh off the line. They could follow her lead but had trouble keeping up, and after some time she began to view them more as burdens than anything else.

When a smaller soldier got caught in the ruins they were patrolling for the hundredth time, she didn’t even bother turning around to keep an eye on their rescue. Eve had commanded that they not split up, so she couldn’t just teleport away and perch on a stone until her shift was over. After about twenty minutes she’d realized how inexperienced her members were and had to re-explain everything from scouting to how they should react to an Alterasia. After a dozen accidents she’d simply given up on trying to lecture them.

She walked on ahead, staying just in sight of the rest of her party. They yelled out for her and she reluctantly stopped and folded her arms, holding her staff in her right hand. After several minutes they managed to pull the extra soldier from the rock, and she set to pacing through their long circle around the ruins once more. 

The ruins of the Temple of Wind weren’t exactly that large and could be fully circled in under half an hour, so their routine had grown old fast. Aisha had tired of the golden idols and fancy inscriptions earlier in the day, and by now she swore she had every detail and carving memorized. She could point out every crack and tunnel and hill and every hiding space available, so nothing would escape her watchful eye.

Or at least, that’s what she had thought. As she jumped onto a platform to cross over the hill with spikes on it, she saw a dark silhouette against the bright moonlight. Whoever they were, they wore a cloak, concealing their entire body as they slowly walked against towards Sander.

She knew Alterasia wasn’t intelligent enough to hide itself, but all citizens had been warned not to leave the town, and she was on the lookout for anyone passing by.

Aisha glanced back at the small group of soldiers following her and gestured for them to lay low as she activated teleport, quickly sneaking up on the stranger. At closer range, she saw their cloak didn’t conceal everything; she could see the rims of a longer coat and two feet clad in white shoes beneath it. The hood was up, but she knew if they turned around she could get an easy look at their face.

“Hey!” She cried out when only ten feet of distance was between them. The stranger stopped and slightly turned their head towards her, making sure that the hood still concealed them. “Don’t you know? Sander isn’t accepting any travellers right now, and no citizens are supposed to be out tonight!”

The stranger looked towards the village. “I merely seek out some shelter for the night. The sands are quite vicious on the body, especially when one has been braving them for hours on end. Apologies for violating your laws, but I see no reason why I should be kept from this place.” They sounded...familiar. From the sound of their voice, they were male, but where had Aisha heard this voice before? Slightly sly, like they knew something she didn’t. A bit stuck up, and certainly spoken in the tone of superiority. 

Aisha frowned. “I never said you couldn’t enter. We’re suffering from repeated monster attacks, so everyone is advised to stay indoors. We’re also supposed to keep an eye on travellers.” She caught herself from revealing their true intentions. “We think it might be contagious, so no one should enter or exit.”

“Then why are you out here, so far away from the village? Is it not a danger if you carry it as well? Tell me, exactly how are monsters of all things contagious?”

Aisha almost bit her cheek. She’d blown it; how could she have forgotten to replace Alterasia with a disease?

“Monsters? Easy. They can latch onto your clothes or your body and travel with you like seed pockets.”

“I think I would feel any form of monster clinging to my body, Miss. Your statements lack backup and proper origin. May I pass in peace? My body is quite tired, and I think this conversation over.” He began to walk away towards the village.

Aisha sighed. “Alright, fine. You can pass if you show us your face.”

The stranger stopped. “Why do you need to see my face? What of my features holds any kind of importance?”

The purple-haired mage smiled. “Why are you so opposed? If you’re innocent and simply passing through, you shouldn’t have a problem with letting us see your face.”

The stranger glanced down at the sand. “I suppose my actions are indeed a bit suspicious. Alright, to dispel these suspicions, I’ll do as you say.” He grabbed the sides of his hood and pulled it back ever so slightly before speaking again. “Come a bit closer, will you?”

Aisha, lowering her guard, did just that.

 

 

Time was passing way too slowly for Elsword’s group. He had been tasked with encircling Sander and had already done so seventeen times in the past hour. The remainder of his party was having a bit of difficulty keeping up with the younger knight, and more than once he’d ditched them to investigate some noise. This had gone on for a full two hours, the once energized soldiers now forced to sit and rest while the endless bout of red energy continued to run about mercilessly.

Elsword didn’t mind being alone for a bit--in fact, he almost preferred it over leading a dozen slower and less capable party members. He had not a moment to rest, for now two threats were nearing Sander, and the energy shooting throughout his body was more than enough to keep him moving. So far they had found nothing, but Elsword still remained energized and attentive, just in case something did happen. Of course, it would happen eventually, and then he’d have an actual battle opportunity.

So when it finally happened, he was more than prepared. All he heard at first was someone screaming, which he immediately rushed to. Several people ran past, crying about a humanoid, and he readied his sword as he advanced, eager to cut it up. The house they had emerged from was lit up brightly, and as he neared the light went out.

Elsword felt fire rushing through his body as it appeared in the doorway. Without a doubt, that was Alterasia--from the green patches on its skin to the spurs emerging on its arms to the green eye, that was it. The first thing it noticed was him, and he saw the eyes widen with fear. Its pupil darted around before focusing on him, and it began to step back, shivering like a frightened kitten.

His pulse throbbing and adrenaline coursing through veins, Elsword ignited his sword and leaped.

 

 

Throughout the lab, a tiny and continuous beeping noise made itself known. Eve stood at her desk, watching the small dots on her screen move about accordingly. Unbeknownst to her allies, she had taken the precaution of tracking them on their routes. Each tracker had been specially designed to remain hidden on even the most sensitive of bodies, and it was almost too easy to add them onto the clothes or accessories. It was the least she could do to keep an eye on them while being cooped up in the lab with a rotting corpse.

The dots belonged to all of her search members. Raven was making laps just outside of Sander, moving so quickly he formed a practical wall with his party. Rena’s group was patrolling the area just outside, keeping a watchful eye on the search party’s temporary home. Aisha’s group was responsible for watching the ruins and keeping an eye out for monsters. The mage knew the area well, and there was not a single doubt in her mind that Aisha would be best fit for leading the stray group. The other party members, Chung and Ara, were currently resting while waiting to be switched out. Their trackers had been applied and remained on the screen as overlapping blips.

It was when Aisha’s tracker stopped moving that she felt a tiny spark of emotion(worry, was it?) which dissipated as soon as it arrived. All of the trackers in that area let off loud beeps before they all ceased movement as well. She raised an eyebrow and reached out, tapping lightly on the small circle which represented Aisha.

The tracker could check for a pulse among other things(they were her own work after all), and she commanded them to do just that. Although it was faint, the trinket picked one up...on Aisha only. She sighed and stared at the map for a moment longer before glancing back at the corpse of the black-eyed demon. Thick, sticky fluid was oozing out of its open throat and eyes and pooling onto the floor.

“Exactly who are we dealing with?” she muttered to herself before turning back to keep a close eye on Raven’s.

 

 

Disgruntled and bored, Elesis remained in the infirmary with the stinking corpses, which by now had filled the room with their disgusting stench. She still felt herself gag a bit with every breath she took, making breathing in and of itself miserable. The simple fact that she was stuck in here left her annoyed and pissed, but the bodies just made it worse.

She folded her arms and glared at Lu. The eyes were open, staring creepily at her. Elesis cocked an eyebrow at it before looking over at Ciel. He was lying face down, a bit strange since earlier in the day he had been on his back. She let a few embers dance around her fingers for a moment before passing it off as just reposition. Rena probably couldn’t take it and just flipped him over while Elesis was out.

She flopped back and stared at the ceiling. There was nothing to do here except sleep, and she wasn’t the least bit tired. Besides, her wounds weren’t that bad. She could still move and function properly!

Her head turned towards the door and she contemplated bugging Eve. It was the only thing she could think of at the time, and it was certainly better than sitting in here. She sat up and stood, enduring the pain in her torso as she headed off towards the Nasod Queen’s lab. 

Behind her, Lu’s finger twitched.

 

 

“I DID IT!”

The cry startled Rena as she began to make her fourteenth round. She stared in their direction and steadied her bow, ready to dash towards it should they turn anything but joyous. Her small group gathered near her, all readying as well. She gestured for them to remain behind her as she slowly advanced forward, body lowered for stealth.

Jumping off of a flat building from above, Elsword leaped and slammed down mere feet from her. Rena instinctively flinched and almost flipped backwards before realizing who it was. Elsword had blood splattered across his cheek and on his sword, and he seemed ecstatic.

“What happened?” She asked, concerned.

Elsword responded by smiling hugely. “I beat the Alterasia! Tore its head open!” He swung his sword excitedly.

Rena’s eye widened. “You killed it? Every bit?”

Elsword smile faded. “Well, it’s dead and on the ground, so I thought I could bring it back to show to uh...Eve. For research.” He smiled again.

Rena frowned. “Sure, I’m pretty sure Eve would love it, especially when the spores spread all over her lab and caused another outbreak.” She rolled her eyes. “I know beating this thing feels good, Elsword, but please remember that it’s infamous for coming back from the dead! For all we know, it could jump up and charge us now! ...Speaking of it, where is it?”

Elsword sighed, expression turning serious. “I left it over by those buildings.” He pointed back in the direction of Vapor’s shop. “I’ll go burn it. You sure we shouldn’t show Eve first, in case she wants samples?”

Rena glanced back at the shelter. “Well...I’m sure a few samples could be of actual aid to us…” She shook her head. “Why not. Just a few, and keep your runes ready, okay?”

 

Elsword nodded and dashed away, off to retrieve the body of his kill. Rena sighed and turned to her group, commanding them to group nearby and stay until Alterasia was confirmed dead

 

 

“So why are we looking at blinking dots?” Elesis rubbed her cheek as Eve held her head, muttering about stupidity. “What do they symbolize? Why are most of them running around in patterns? Are you playing some kind of game while everyone else looks for Alterasia?”

Eve glared at her. “I am keeping an eye on our allies. You cannot expect me to perform actions such as theirs, but I still can monitor them from afar.”

 

“Soooo why are we looking at little glowing dots? Are they that important?”

Eve blinked. “They’re our comrades.”

“Our comrades? The little dots are our comrades?”

“No. The little dots represent our comrades. I placed trackers on each of them.”

 

“Oh. Cool. Why are those ones coming towards us?” Elesis pointed at the red and green dots. 

Eve’s gaze moved to them, her eyes widening a tiny bit. “Those are Elsword and Rena. They aren’t supposed to be retiring this quickly.” Her gaze moved to the gray dot, which was still moving and making quick laps. “Raven seems fine...did that threat get by him? Is it in Sander now?”

“Threat?” Elesis sounded shocked and a bit angry. “What threat? Why didn’t you mention a threat?!”

Eve simply closed her eyes and folded her arms. “Aisha’s tracker detected a pulse from her, though it was weak. She hasn’t moved since. That supposed ‘creator’ may have knocked her out. However, we cannot be fast to judge as of right now. It is easy to be ambushed at night, and Aisha isn’t very strong physically. If someone caught her without her knowing and knocked away her staff--”

“NO ONE DOES THAT WHERE SHE IS!” Elesis had to resist grabbing Eve and shaking her. “It’s the ruins of the Temple of Wind! Anything valuable is already gone! Who would be out there, exactly?!”

Eve seemed as uncaring as ever. “We should keep our guard up, but there are other possibilities as to what it may be. I prefer to not waste my mana on a few stray bandits.”

Elesis almost punched her when she heard Rena’s tease. “Oh Eeeeeeeve~ Elsword and I dragged something in for yoooooou~”

Eve stared at the screen for a moment longer before turning and walking out. Elesis watched her go and looked back at the screen, concern clouding her mind. Aisha was down, who was to say Raven wasn’t next? The mercenary was strong and could put up a good fight, but what if this threat was stronger? If Raven went down…

She decided that if it got past him, she would take command and form a retaliation. A threat like that would be too great to ignore.

“Sis!” Elsword bounded in, a blood spatter on his cheek. Elesis’s eyes widened and she almost broke into mom-mode before realizing it was just a spatter and not a wound. She tilted her head and focused on her brother’s eyes. 

“What happened? Why do you have a splatter on your cheek?” She asked right off the bat, still a bit concerned. 

Elsword smiled cockily. “I beat the Alterasia. It’s not getting back up after receiving a wound like that!”

Elesis grinned approvingly. “No way! You actually killed it? Good job, lil bro!” She ruffled his hair playfully.

Elsword shied away and gestured for her to follow as he ran out. Elesis followed at walking speed, pride welling in her chest as they progressed. He ran right to the entrance, where Eve and Rena were already standing over a body.

The sight of Add on the ground hurt her a bit, the pride she felt dimming. Blood was gushing from the left side of his head, and he was lying facedown in a practical puddle of the stuff. Elsword ran over and winked at her as she kneeled next to the body.

In her mind she apologized. Eve kneeled next to her and stared at the corpse for a few moments before looking up at Elsword. Her voice held a tiny bit of excitement.

“Bring it to my lab. We will take samples immediately. Elesis, when this is done, burn it till there is nothing left.”

Elesis swallowed and nodded. Rena walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, her eyes filled with sympathy. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, “it was for the best. Everyone will benefit from this.”

Elsword grabbed the corpse’s arm and slowly lifted it, the weight obviously dragging him down a bit as he began to pull Add to Eve’s lab. The Psyker had thinned out a little bit, but the change seemed mostly trivial and certainly wasn’t enough to ease her brothers load. Rena removed her hand and nodded at her, and she stood and moved to help her little brother.

A demonic roar broke their calm. Their gazes all shot to the small green and white demon lunging for Elsword, who dropped Add and reached for his sword all too slowly. It tackled him against the wall, sending the sword flying from his hand. Lu’s gauntlets were out and dangerously unstable, their form and shape shifting rapidly as she took aim for the eyes.

Before Elesis could charge the thing another one appeared, charging straight for her. Rena cried something out and shoved her out of the way, meeting the thing with an arrow to the head. The body still slammed into her, and Elesis saw the elf kick it off and swiftly recover.

Ciel’s body could take a lot of abuse, and instead of staying down it stood and roared at them again. The arrow embedded in its skull didn’t seem to bother the dead thing at all. Despite its closed eyelids, it still seemed completely aware of its surroundings as it faced straight in Rena’s direction and charged again, summoning its gunblades this time.

Elsword’s angry yell distracted her. He threw Lu off, the small demon slamming into the wall above Add. She slid down, a sticky fluid tracing her movements, before lifting her head up and hissing. The eyes were open and like those of a dead fish, the small white stars in them suddenly unfitting. Her gauntlets began to pulsate again, growing larger as her demonic magic felt the effects of being controlled by an amateur.

Elesis formed a fireball in her hand as her brother glared at Lu, challenging the undead demon to keep her in position. The Alterasia holding Lu was less intelligent than she thought, paying absolutely no attention to Elesis even as the fire in her hand blazed wildly. She aimed and readied to throw it when Rena screamed. Elesis heard Ciel roar, his body slamming next to Lu’s. Blood dripped from his jaw, a bolt of fear stabbing Elesis’s chest as she whipped around to look at Rena. 

What she saw horrified her. Rena’s entire left breast had been torn away, the frail strands of her dress sticking to the exposed flesh and bone. The blood seeping out covered the rest of her chest and stained her dress dark crimson. She was bleeding profusely and was still on her back, fumbling weakly with golden healing magic twining around her hands.

Elesis felt a bit sick as her gaze moved back to the creatures too late. Ciel leaped at her, and the fireball was knocked away. She heard Elsword yell as something jumped towards him, rushing with a loud growl.

Elesis yelled the creature bit her own chest, taking a chunk out. She heard Rena cast Airelinna, and then the elf cried out as she followed up with a drill kick on the creature. The move sent blood flying everywhere, splattering onto Elesis’s face and outfit. When Rena landed over her, her breathing and stance were heavy as she attempted to recover while wounded, blood still pouring out onto the floor.

The kick had sent Ciel flying, causing him to knock Lu off of Elsword. Her brother jumped up and faced the two Alterasia, a large rune forming in his hand. Both the creatures reared up and this time, they all felt the mana power in the air as they braced for a combination attack.

“Genocide Ripper!”

Both demons screeched as they were caught up in a flurry of slashes. Eve held her hand out as her slave Oberon worked on filleting the evil things, blood and green substance flying everywhere. Elesis ducked away from it. Rena feebly covered her bleeding chest. Elsword immediately dashed over to where his sword lay and scooped it up.

The bodies hit the ground, sending droplets of mixed substance flying. Elesis slowly lifted herself up, looking down at the corpses lying on the ground. The pain in her torso began to catch up to her, causing her to hunch over as she stood. Elsword was now in proper battle form, obviously too late. Rena panted and weakly stood, clutching at her bleeding breast.

Elesis immediately moved to help support the elf despite her own pain. Eve briskly walked forward and gestured for Rena to follow her at once. Rena did just that as Eve moved towards the infirmary, her breathing becoming increasingly heavier. Elesis felt her begin to weaken and attempted to speed up their pace as more blood dripped onto the floor, forming a trail.

Behind her she heard Elsword moving to drag the bodies away to burn them. The shelter was wooden, after all, and would catch fire easily if they burned the bodies there. She figured she’d help once Rena was in a proper bed and had proper care.

Upon reaching the infirmary, she helped Rena stagger into a bed. Eve nodded to her, having summoned Ophelia to aid in bandaging and disinfecting. Nodding back, Elesis turned and left, wrapping her arms around her torso as she painfully forced herself to walk with a straight back. 

In a nearby room, she heard Ara yawn as she opened the door. “Time already…?” she asked before seeing Elesis. “O-oh...oh…” She held her hands over her open mouth in shock. “What--”

“The Alterasia came alive again. We need to burn them immediately.”

Ara gulped and nodded. “Are there any wounded? I can help treat them!”

Elesis pointed back at the infirmary. “Rena has sustained worse wounds than I have. She needs help--fast.” 

Ara nodded and took off, still dressed in pajamas. Elesis looked around for Chung and saw none of him. She sighed and kept walking, heading to the entrance room. Upon arrival, she noticed how all the bodies had been moved and silently applauded her brother for such fast work. She walked straight to the door and opened it, a grim expression painted on her face.

It vanished to a horrified one as soon as she took in the scene outside. On the top of one the houses, Add’s body stood, holding her brother’s limp one by the neck. He was holding the Rune Slayer’s head to his mouth, which was open and entertaining itself with Elsword’s left eye. She could see blood dripping down her brothers face as the monster suddenly bit down and pulled back. Unable to view the following events, Elesis turned away, trying not to puke as she heard something snap.

Her brother didn’t appear conscious. She silently thanked the El Lady for that. Fire burned throughout her entire body as rage began to build. She forced herself to compress it, using her anger to fuel the flames building on her hands. Even if it was her little brother, she couldn’t fly into a full-on rage against this opponent.

“How dare you,” she growled, raising her hands before slinging the first fireball and immediately following up with a second. “HOW DARE YOU! DROP HIM NOW!!”

The creature whipped around and immediately raised her brother’s body, the balls of fire smashing into it. Elsword didn’t seem too affected by it (he was a fire user after all), but she knew that if she continued her assault, her brother’s body would eventually end up severely burned. Unwilling to hurt her brother, she snarled at the creature, the fire on her hands growing in strength.

It seemed to revel in this for a moment, smiling at her madly and winking. She clenched her fists so firmly that her fingernails drew blood. Her jaw was set tight, starting to cause an ache in her skull. Her body was practically on fire, and her rage was growing, but she couldn’t DO anything for fear that the insolent creature would cause her to hurt her own brother.

It enraged her all the more.

“SCARE CHASE!”

The creature was caught off guard by the sudden yell and looked to the left, and before it could even move Elsword her fire slammed into its face. It screamed in agony and dropped her brother. Elesis, not caring about the missile that flew overhead, dashed forward and caught her limp brother. She quickly checked for a pulse, found one, and glared back up at where the creature had been.

Chung slammed down next to her, the Iron Paladin’s stony face filled with rage. The creatures singed body stood back up, the flesh on its face mostly green now. The left eye was still dark red and bloody, the liquid that had once been pouring out now completely dried. It narrowed its single green eye at them, and both watched in disgust as the membrane suddenly exploded, sending light green fluid splatting down in front of them. A flower with red petals and a yellow, pearl-like center emerged. Both recognized its form. Next to her, Chung readied another missile.

The creature looked down at them, it’s eye alight with a challenging glint, before it cried out loudly. 

A familiar screech sounded from nearby. They turned in the direction it emerged from and took in another unfortunate sight. The bodies of Lu and Ciel, despite being cut and maimed, were active once more. They dripped out a green yellow pus and stood hunched over, ready to attack again.

Add let out a loud roar and the attention of the demon duo moved to him.Chung grabbed his Destroyer with both hands as he readied to defend. Elesis slowly laid her brother down and formed two fireballs in her hands, standing up.

The Alterasia on the roof roared again...and spoke. “TeAr thEM ApaRT!”

The demon duo roared in acknowledgement and immediately lunged. Chung narrowed his eye and braced for their attack, Elesis readying her fireballs for throwing. Above them, the Alterasia laughed and readied to leap as well.

“PANZER BUSTER!”

“WILD CHARGE!”

A pink laser sent the Alterasia on the roof flying. The sudden attack by Raven sent the two other ones on a similar journey, their bodies disappearing over the rooftops. Elesis looked at their saviors and gasped. 

Raven’s grimace and black hair were not out of the norm, but the smirking white-haired man standing next to him, was that--

Chung grabbed her arm. “Come on! There’s no saying when they’ll return!” He glanced back in the direction the roof Alterasia had flown, keeping a watchful eye on it.

Elesis grabbed her brother and charged back into the shelter, her already tired body screaming from the weight in her arms. Chung and Raven followed behind them, the white-haired man looking around one last time before gliding in after them on six purple drones.

“Treat your injured and immediately prepare for travel. They’ll be back in no time, and a barrier certainly won’t be enough to hold them back.” His drones - dynamos, Elesis suddenly realized - spread out and projected a screen, which he quickly tapped some commands into. A few drones appeared from midair and quickly began forming translucent purple barriers over the few openings available as the man continued to input commands, his expression grim.

She felt Raven grab her arm and then her brother. The small amount of resistance she put up was feeble, and the mercenary easily pried him out of her arms and took off towards the infirmary with him, dozens of blood droplets trailing them as Elsword’s eye continued to bleed.Chung grabbed her shoulder to forcefully drag her to the infirmary, her body far too weak to put up any form of a fight. She let herself be carried away, her eyes still on the man in the entrance room.

Unless she was so fatigued her mind was playing tricks on her, the white haired man in that room inputting commands into his dynamos was most certainly Add.


	6. Cower

Whatever medicine the stranger had given them was potent. In no time at all, Rena, Elesis, and Elsword were all put into a practical coma. It made treatment easier, but transportation worried Chung. Carrying their allies was already a big problem, but the fact they were now knocked out meant they could offer no defense or assistance. Elesis could still form fireballs without her weapon, Elsword runes, and Rena could apply elven healing magic. Of course, none of them could perform such things while asleep.

It had taken the entire night to prepare for entire evacuation and to fully treat their wounded. It was a night riddled with screams, for the Alterasia outside had taken to attacking the weaker citizens instead of the search party. Not once had they attacked the barriers the scientist had put up, but Chung had seen the Psyker outside more than once, smiling at them sadistically. Occasionally it would circle the area or wave at them, a few blood droplets flying off of its spurred fingers. When it finally visited them for the last time, it was carrying someone else’s arm. After that, there were no more screams to be heard.

Every time he’d heard a cry it fed his anger. He was supposed to protect these people, yet he was forced indoors to preserve the lives of the search party. An entire town had been massacred overnight by monsters, who had without doubt created dozens more, and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Chung.” The familiar voice calling his name sounded apathetic. He turned to glare at the Add lookalike who wore a white lab coat. The man held something in his gloved hand and offered it to the fallen prince.

Chung stared at the pills for a second before looking back up at the grimace on the others face. “What are these for?” He finally asked, looking between the man and the pills.

The “Add” remained emotionless towards him. “Take them before we leave. If you do so, our chances of survival increase greatly.”

Chung’s expression became skeptical. “What’s in them?”

The scientist didn’t hesitate. “It’s an anti-Alterasia modification. This pill is poisonous to the human strain, though not to the Nasod one. I made them as a side project. It will prevent you from turning.”

Chung still felt a bit unsure of this, but took the pills anyways. “This is a preliminary method to prevent us from becoming those things, right? Shouldn’t you distribute them to the entire party then?”

The copy nodded. “What do you think I’m doing? We’ll be leaving this place the moment the sun becomes level with the trees. That gives us about twenty more minutes to prepare, so you best finish gathering your items. Leave behind what you don’t need and take the medicine with fluids of any sort directly BEFORE we leave. Understood?”

Chung nodded and the man turned away, heading towards Eve’s lab.

 

 

“Follow me exactly. Don’t stray once if you care about your pathetic lives. If you see an Alterasia, kill it. Most importantly remember to watch out at all times. By now, they will be everywhere.”

The white-haired man tucked a few stray strands behind his ear before walking out in an unnervingly calm manner. Unlike everyone else he held no burdens or even emotions at all. Chung was finding it harder and harder to even consider the man an ally with each action he took. First it had been the medicine, then the suicide pills, then the dispute over the black-eyed demon’s body. He seemed less interested in the groups survival than he did in the Alterasia, and in the back of his mind Chung wondered if this creepy clone was just leading them to their death.

Whatever his game was, he was playing it well. Ara was a bit cautious around him but seemed to mostly trust him, Eve remained as cold as ever, and Raven kept a suspicious eye on him but still followed his lead. No matter what, he didn’t act out of line or even relatively close to threat level. The only real emotion he showed had been anger, and it was when Eve refused to transport the black-eyed creatures body. Chung had noticed a similarity in their faces, which only made his doubt in the man grow worse. 

He’d taken the pills he received with a bit of cactus juice mere minutes ago, and already his body was starting to hurt. Small needles of pain were starting to develop all over his arms and legs, which he found impossible to continuously blame on his armor and load. Carrying heavy objects was his specialty, so he’d become the packhorse, carrying one of everyone’s bags as well as Rena’s bandaged body. Her soft breathing was of little comfort in the abandoned Sander.

Despite the group they had, the danger still felt very new and very alive. The lovely sunrise was already beginning to illuminate the streets, which felt riddled with hidden threats. The shadows it created felt more threatening than anything else. They could provide cover for the enemy. He kept a careful eye on them, checking for movement at every turn.

The white-haired man stopped and held out his hand, gesturing for everyone else to stop. He turned to look back at Eve and spoke. 

“Summon Ferdinand or Ophelia. Now.”

Eve looked mildly irritated at someone commanding her what to do. Next to her, the Elesis riddled Oberon raised his head and stared at the scientist in an oddly threatening manner.

The Queen Nasod narrowed her eyes and held out her hand as her pink Nasod servant Ophelia appeared. The female servant looked around briefly before turning to her master and waiting for orders. 

Ahead of them, the Add clone was tracing something in the air with his finger. Chung could hear him whisper numbers and positions before he landed on one shaded area and held. He turned back to Eve and held his hand out, remaining at the same area. 

“Move Ophelia right there. Specifically fourteen steps. Do not move from the position once it has been attained.”

Eve narrowed her eyes to slits. “Why.” She said plainly.

The man’s eyes were blank as he turned his head to stare over his shoulder at her with a single magenta eye. 

“It is so hard to move a simple, rebuildable Nasod to a spot several steps away from her master? Or is the Queen of Nasods so pathetic she cannot control her servants properly? Are you cautious of this move, or does it lie in the fact you hate being ordered around? It’s a simple action, Eve. You can obey a basic order or deny it and argue, leaving us open and vulnerable to attack. Your choice.”

Eve blinked. Chung thought he saw anger stirring in her before she folded her arms and looked to Ophelia. 

“Move where he commands. No steps more, no steps less.”

The pain in Chung’s arms and legs began to resemble mild acid burning as Ophelia marched past him to where the white-haired man pointed. The Nasod stood still and turned back to her master, a plain look on her face. She folded her hands over her skirt and awaited further instruction.

Eve glared at the man, who was counting on his fingers. Chung watched him start at ten and move down one by one, muttering each number out quietly. When he got to five he raised his hand and his dynamos seem to ready, charging something Chung didn’t recognize.

Before anyone could speak, they all heard a loud growl. Chung’s head whipped to the right as he saw the small Alterasia demon Lu suddenly leap off the wall she’d been clinging onto and charge straight for Ophelia’s head. Ophelia looked at her, but with no commands from her master, she did nothing as the demon tackled her, green saliva flying everywhere.

Before Eve could even unsummon her servant Add unleashed an attack. The burst slammed into the demon, throwing it into the air.

For the first time her saw real emotion coming from the man as he excitedly yelled, “ULTIMATE FURY!”

A dozen drones seemed to form from air, the pink lasers they shot out locking onto the demon immediately. They remained locked on until it hit the ground. Immediately the drones disappeared, and the man crouched next to the dead body in the dirt.

Every conscious member save for Eve held a shocked expression on their face before they cautiously crept forward. The scary laser man was checking the dead demon, looking for any sign of life before he stood and faced them.

“It’s dead. Thank you for your cooperation, Eve.”

He would be dead if looks could kill. Eve held her glare for a moment longer before turning to Ophelia(who was mostly unhurt) and unsummoning her. The man turned away, about to continue on their trek.

“Uh...mister?” Ara’s slightly nervous voice broke the quiet that now surrounded them. The man looked back at her, his expression blank again. “Is that pearl supposed to roll out?”

He froze before turning back to the creature. Chung now saw another emotion: a clear fear that quickly dimmed but refused to leave. The man bent down and picked up the small Alterasia pearl that had rolled out from the hole where Lu’s horn had been.

Closer now, Chung could make out the new details on the infected demon. Her single once blue horn was now dappled with green spores. The hole where the other had been now sported a small flower, not fully mature but still open and empty, freed of its pearl. Her eyes were still open and dead, her mouth agape in a roar. More green could be seen within. Her skin, her entire body, was a light shade of green, like the dermis beneath had completely changed color. The gauntlets she still had on were now disintegrating, their color warping from red to blue to green.

Her killer appeared shocked. “This...this wasn’t…” He looked at the pearl and back at Lu. “There’s nothing for you to cannibalize....how have you already…” The man trailed off before pocketing the pearl. He breathed in deeply and turned back to the party. “Change of plans,” he began. “We will no longer head to the ruins.” He bit his lip. “This is a minor inconvenience on our part, but I can ensure you regardless that--”

“YoU tALk tOo MUcH.”

They all whirled around at the sound of the unnatural voice. It’s owner was sitting on the roof of the building Lu had been clinging to, legs crossed in a normally uncomfortable position. It was smiling down at them despite its utter lack of proper eyes.

Chung felt disgusted by the thing in Add’s body. It had changed the Psyker so much, and not for the better. His left eye was still gored out, reduced to nothing but a freshly dried hole boasting a thin layer of spores. His right eye was completely gone, the socket becoming a home to the Alterasia flower that had bloomed the night before. Chung noticed its pearl was smaller than before.

It held its chin and smiled cruelly at them. “InCApaBLE,” it sneered. “INTOleRablE. EaSiLy kILled. EaSiLY caUGhT.”

The other “Add” narrowed his eyes. “Everyone,” he muttered, “ready to flee. It never comes without backup.” He cast a look over at Chung, one that held a tiny bit of pity.

The Alterasia kept smiling, leaning forward as it unfolded it legs and let them dangle off the roof. “Don’T rUN, pREy. WE Are sO mUCh faSTer. StAY awHiLE, woN’T yOU? We So lOVe iT whEn yOU staY STill.”

All around them, Chung could hear growls. Everyone else caught on as they all formed a tightening circles. Next to him, the doppelganger gasped.

“These aren’t...that isn’t POSSIBLE!” Chung stole a glance over at the other and saw the fear on his face. That single expression was enough to drive fear into him as well, but he forced it to subside as the first Alterasia appeared.

It’s eye was missing, the socket thoroughly lined with spores. Out of the hole dripped a green fluid. The mouth was open, revealing green speckles within as it staggered forwards.

He felt the man moving next to him and heard him mutter something about a generator. On the other side, Ara was readying her spear. He heard Eve summon someone, probably Ophelia. Raven cracked his knuckles.

The infected Add slammed down. It kept its gaze on the lookalike in their group, tongue creeping out to cover its pale lips in a thick green spit.

“MaSTerMiND.”

The man froze before slowly shifting his gaze to the leading Alterasia. He appeared more shocked than anything else as it neared and circled, staying just out of distance from Ara’s spear. No matter what, it kept its head turned towards him.

“YoU. KnOW. YOu INteNDed foR ThIS. yOU. YOU.” It raised a gloveless finger, the tip of it green. “YoU KneW. You dID NotHIng tO StoP IT.” Its lip curled back angrily. “YOU. YOUR FAULT. YOURS.”

The Mastermind’s expression changed to a cold one. “No use negotiating with a corpse. Shut up and play your role.” The dynamos that floated around him began to swirl as his eyes darted around, moving from party member to party member. He suddenly cried out as the trinkets swirled faster, eyes glimmering. “GET DOWN EVERYONE!”

Chung had just dropped to the floor as the madman yelled “PSIONIC GENERATOR!” and a pink flash temporarily consumed his vision. The Alterasia screamed, and the town fell silent. He heard the man snicker.

“Come on. That shoul--”

A roar. A roar so loud and abrupt that everyone was caught off guard. Chung had barely raised his head when the Psyker dashed out from the building it had been thrown into. His vision was a bit blurry, so he could just barely make out the things sudden lunge for its attacker. MasterMind sidestepped. The Alterasia tripped over Rena, her bandages beginning to become undone. Behind them, Eve had recovered and watched the small battle unfolding between the two similar creatures.

A sudden pain flared over the paladin’s muscles. He couldn’t move his legs or arms. His neck started to hurt, eyelids begging to close. Chung tried to force himself up to no avail. He was stuck, left to watch as the Alterasia--

It stopped targeting the MasterMind for a moment and suddenly turned to Chung. He heard it breathe in sharply before growling.

“REcreANt CoPy.”

The same pink laser from before sent it flying as this very “copy” reached down to pick up Rena, leaving the other things Chung had been carrying on the ground. 

“Everyone, grab your wounded immediately. We have to leave, now.” The urgency in the man’s voice gradually increased as the Alterasia roared again and the growls began to surround them again. “NOW!”

From the corner of his eye Chung saw Ara dashing around to grab the belongings he had dropped, already beginning to struggle with them. Behind her, Mastermind handed Rena to Ophelia and gestured for Raven to grab Elsword. Ara ran over and handed him the bags, which he regarded with disgust. She turned back to Chung, her face twisted with worry.

“What about--”

She never got to finish. The other grabbed her arm and spun her away from him. Behind them, Chung could hear the growls growing in volume.

“Leave him! There’s no use in saving a bird with a broken wing!”

Before Ara could speak again Mastermind grabbed her wrist and dragged her along as he took off. Raven, laden with Elsword and a dozen other bags, looked down at him in pity. Chung could see sorrow in the mercenary’s eyes as he was forced to take off as well. Eve remained still, regarding her circumstances. She looked ready to summon her final Nasod servant right as something grabbed the Guardian’s leg. Judging from the pressure and sudden snap he heard, it was the leader.

Eve was gone before he could even whisper a cry for help. His body was quickly becoming heavier, paralysis spreading throughout it. Chung knew why--the poison. The poison he’d been given and consumed like a fool. The scoundrel known as Mastermind had sacrificed him to escape.

If he could move, he would chase after them and attack the man with the strongest Lunatic Fury he could muster. If he could move, he’d use Pandemonium to shake these rats off. But he was paralysed, incapable of movement, incapable of fighting. He felt the strongest one already tearing his armor off, experiencing slight difficulty with a dozen pieces.

At least he couldn’t feel the pain as the other Alterasia attacked every bit of exposed flesh on his body.

 

 

“Stupid stranger and his stupid lasers and those stupid guards and this stupid Alterasia,” Aisha grumbled angrily as she stomped through the desert stretch leading to Sander. “Stupid Eve and her stupid missions and this stupid desert. Why can’t I be at home and sleeping in my own stupid bed like Chung and Ara? How come I have to lead?”

She fumed angrily, clutching her staff so tightly it almost cracked. Her mana was too low for any form of element to appear on it, but if it had been just several bits more the thing would have snapped in two. Aisha had had no time to recover--her soldiers were dead and the stranger got away. Her best hope was to flee to Sander and inform Eve of what she had seen, and that was if she got there before the stranger. After all, it was sunrise now, and last she’d been awake it was midnight.

Her clothes were singed and her body hurt, but Aisha still pressed on. She forced herself to stick to the thoughts of her return. The thought of arriving and being pampered for her efforts. The thought of finally catching up on the sleep she’d lost from this stupid mission. The thought of her comrades killing Alterasia while she got to sit back and eat Rena’s cooking.

It had her drooling and in a mild daze, so when the growl sounded she was rather surprised. It was a loud growl, like a Trocks scream, but no one else was around. She looked back and forth, searching for a figure, and found one on the very path she was supposed to be taking. Although it was a bit hard at first, she recognized the colors of its clothes and tensed with joy.

“Ciel!” She cried out, waving so he’d notice her. “Over here! Did you come to get me?”

Ciel turned in her direction, his head tilted oddly to the side. He raised his hand in her direction and she heard another growl as the half demon began to stagger forward. Aisha blinked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“Ciel? Did you just growl?”

As if in response he did just that. The loud noise was enough to make her shudder as the half-demon finally neared enough for her to take in his full sight. What she saw horrified her, and only now did she remember: Ciel was dead. She had been outside the infirmary when Oberon slit his throat.

Ciel still bore the slash in his neck, though it had long stopped bleeding. Green pus oozed out of it, pouring down over his tattered Royal Guard clothes. Around the edges of the cut, green fuz had begun to sprout. His eyes were completely shut, blood streaming out of his left eyelid. His hair was no longer in a lovely ponytail and had been left to fray and fluff, and all over his body he was covered in green spots where flesh had been bitten away.

Aisha screamed and immediately raised her staff, preparing to cast a Meteor...before she remembered her mana was too low to do so. The half-demon didn’t seem to notice, continuing its stagger towards her. The mage immediately turned tail and fled, the fear in her chest worsening with every tired step.

The second she heard it thudding behind her she knew she’d messed up. It outran her in no time. She screamed as the creature tackled her and pinned her to the ground, its jaws open as it leaned down to her neck. Expecting it to bite, Aisha squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for a swift death.

She felt something wet and cold dragging itself across her neck and shivered. It remained for several moments, tasting her, before pulling back. Aisha tensed up, waiting for the inevitable pressure on her neck. 

It didn’t come. Instead, the creature let out a strange burbling whine and lifted itself off of her, crouching next to her legs. She opened her eyes, turned her head till it was in her scope of vision, and immediately scrambled away. The creature tilted its head in her direction but didn’t chase. Its eyes remained closed, blood beginning to drip out of both of them, and made a strange attempt at yawning before standing and raising its arm to--

She spat out bile on the desert sand as it tore its own eye out of its head. Her throat and stomach hurt, and the creature neared again. Aisha pitifully tried to crawl away and flinched when it crouched next to her. She tried not to breathe in the scent of old blood dripping out or the musty smell of Alterasia and decay as it held the eye out to her.

It didn’t react as she moved away and slowly stood, legs wobbly as she held a hand to her mouth to prevent another spit up. Instead the creature let out a wheeze and pulled its hand back, then attempted to smell the air. The way it seemed to struggle with breathing, she guessed it’s trachea had definitely been slit. After performing this pained action, the creature stood and walked towards her again. Aisha continued to back away, praying it didn’t leap at her.

The creature let out a strange chirp after it had followed her for a solid four minutes. It still held out the eye, wilted and disgusting, and tilted its head to the left. Aisha had already caught on, but she still denied it, even when the creature let out another curious chirp gurgle and stood in place. In her last attempt, Aisha attempted to speak with it.

“N-no thank you! Please! Aisha doesn’t want any eyeballs!” She sputtered aimlessly as the creature opened its mouth. It waited till she stopped talking before it let out a series of groans, growls, burbles, and chirps. Still it continued to wait, and finally Aisha gave in. 

The eye was squishy and cold, and she felt another wave of vomit coming as she took it from the creature’s hand. The creature paid her little mind as she threw up right there and it chirruped again.

Aisha finished sputtering up yellow-green fluid and turned towards it, her eyes pained. The eyeball in her hand fueled more nausea, but she had no more to give, and the repulsion she felt couldn’t be removed by simply throwing it. She swallowed, a disgusting flavor present in her mouth, and stared at the creature. Judging from its movements it was eager to follow her but not to attack. It stood between her and the path to Sander, which was definitely a problem.

She pulled herself up and slowly began to walk around the creature. Its head remained turned to her every step of the way, and when she was beyond its scope it stood and turned. She dropped the eye and almost broke into a run as it began to walk forward. Aisha continued to retreat, walking towards Sander backwards. She kept her eyes on the creature as it picked up the eye, sniffed it, and began to stalk towards her again.

Unable to stand it anymore, Aisha screamed and ran.

 

 

Sander left behind, the remnants of the El Search Party headed for the ruins of the Temple of Wind, lead by Add’s copy. Ara couldn’t help but occasionally steal glances back at Sander, praying that the Alterasia didn’t follow them into the desert. Despite all of Add’s comments on how the desert conditions were too dangerous for Alterasia to move in during the day, she still felt unsafe.

The heat and the weight of their comrades were enough to quickly exhaust the party. They pressed on as far as they could go, but when even Raven almost collapsed they all agreed to search for shelter. Ara had spotted a small rock formation that provided enough shade for a temporary rest area, and there they stayed until now, their comrades gingerly placed against the rocks in the shade. Eve deactivated for a while, her guard Oberon keeping watch over her and their sleeping comrades.

Mastermind stared off into space, his face blank. “We need to leave before nightfall. Moving all of you will take at least an hour, time we don’t have. Raven,” he turned towards the former mercenary, who was sitting next to Rena, “are you stable enough for travel?”

The Reckless Fist glared up at him and stood, fist clenched. Mastermind regarded him for a moment as he neared and realized too late what Raven’s intentions were. Ara turned away as she heard something crack and a body hit the sand.

“What the HELL did you do to him, you traitor? You killed Chung!” She looked over to see Raven lifting the man up off the ground with his human hand. “Give me one reason not to break your skull,” he snarled.

“I am the only one who can...guarantee your survival. I need to be alive to do that, don’t I?” Despite his circumstances, the man still smirked as he looked down at Raven.

The ex-mercenary narrowed his golden eyes and lowered Add to eye level. “Somehow I doubt that. Don’t we have a MUCH higher survival rate if we don’t have a TRAITOR poisoning us?”

Ara bit her lip. “G-guys, I’m pretty sure there was a reason, right? Or...uh…” She froze up as they both looked to her. “M-maybe Chung just felt sick? Or the Alterasia--”

“ENOUGH!” Raven threw the other man on the ground and clenched his Nasod Fist. “HE. KILLED. CHUNG. WHAT ABOUT THAT DON’T YOU GET? A traitor in our midst will only worsen the situation!”

Add crawled just out of distance before he spoke. “Chung dies no matter what. Every world I’ve visited, he becomes one of them.”

Both Ara and Raven focused on him now. “Every world?” They said in unison.

Mastermind froze, realizing what he had said.. “Shit…”

Raven grabbed his collar and pulled him up, once again suspending the man in the air. “Speak now or I’ll snap your neck.”

Ara leaned forward from her rocky perch. “Please, tell us more. What do you mean by worlds? Why does Chung no matter what?”

Raven glared at Add’s clone as the smaller white-haired man sighed. “I wasn’t going to tell you everything here and now, but appears I have no choice. May I at least request that I do it with my feet on the sand?”

Raven dropped him onto his butt. Mastermind grimaced before standing and rubbing his rear for a moment. “Alright,” he began as he moved to the shade, “what is it you want to know first?”

Before Ara could speak Raven broke in. “Why did you poison Chung. How did you know where to place Ophelia. Why you knew how to get past me and into Sander, and exactly where we lived.”

Mastermind sighed before starting. “I’m a traveller of sorts. An interdimensional one. I’ve seen these events enough to know what will happen. This world is a bit unique, but I still--”

“What happened to your world to make you interested in travelling through others?”

Add drew in a sharp breath, his eyes widening with fear. “I...it...they…” He seemed to choke on his words. Ara saw pain, confusion, and horror moving throughout his eyes

“Why did you poison Chung?” She quickly asked, drawing him off the subject. His emotions subsided, and Mastermind bit his lip before turning to her. 

“Chung dies no matter what. I tried to save him, but it never once worked. It was because of his personality, I’d guess--he’d run away and fend off as many as he could, but eventually one would catch his neck or face. If he became one of them, he’d become one of the most dangerous. Chung has the capability of becoming a Type-K, and such a threat cannot be left to prosper.”

“How does poisoning him help? Isn’t Alterasia itself a poison?”

“The poison is of my own work. I’ve made it potent enough to kill everything. Chung is a hazard to them now, and all who eat his flesh will suffer from a practical dissolving of the brain.”

Ara winced. “That sounds...brutal.”

Add looked away. “It’s what must be done for our safety.”

Raven broke in. “What’s a Type K?”

“A type of classification system.Type K is an acronym for Type Kaiser.”

“Classification system?” Ara furrowed her brow. “There are different Alterasia types?”

Add held two fingers to his forehead and sighed. “Of course you wouldn’t know, you’re still new to this…” He looked up and began. “Alterasia is unique enough that it can adapt seemingly regardless of its conditions. The human strain, which has been discovered in a great many worlds, boasts diversity which changes with each person it infects. I’ve noticed many take different actions and approaches, have varying levels of strength and aggression, and even perform different tasks. Some are more intelligent than others and boast the capacity for human speech. It depends on their host and conditions.” He looked off towards Sander. “Naturally some are more dangerous than others. We noticed so many that we started to name them. Esper--” he flinched upon saying the name-- “named Type Kaiser.”

“You called Add a Type K. How dangerous would you say he is?”

Mastermind’s eyes glittered. “Kaisers are the worst Alterasias out there. They boast intelligence, power, and the ability to reproduce and mutate as quickly as a Feeder. True to their name, they do command other Alterasia.” He bit his lip. “Kaisers are also very rare. Out of all the worlds I’ve visited, they have only been present in four. But this one...this world is very unusual.”

Raven narrowed his eyes. “Exactly how? What makes us so different from all these other places you’ve been to?”

 

MasterMind crossed his arms over his chest. “In this world, a Kaiser was the first formed. Not only is that extremely rare, but it also placed immediate obstacles in my path. I had to send Esper out immediately, but then the thing…” Sorrow laced his voice. “That thing turned around and killed him. It was developing its intelligence. Even worse, it managed to remember my name. It’s mutating and evolving amazingly fast--almost too fast, I’d say. And with the development of our current situations...well...normally I’d have left this world. Nothing is happening as it should.”

Raven rolled his eyes. “That’s what you get for fucking with a dozen other places and expecting everything to remain perfectly aligned.”

Mastermind shot him a glare. “Time anomalies aren’t entirely my fault. Esper has the technology and I do not. He carries me places and then runs off for his own work. If I didn’t need him for interdimensional travel, I would have discarded him long ago.”

Raven raised an eyebrow.

“To simplify what I am saying for your mediocre mind, it is not my fault your world is messed up. The development of an early Kaiser was unpredicted and completely left up to fate. I guess your world is simply the short straw.”

“If our world is different, then why didn’t you try saving Chung?” Raven snarled. “We could have escaped there alive. We didn’t need you to poison our comrade and lay him out like a steak.”

 

Mastermind narrowed his eyes. “There was no telling what would have happened. The Kaiser recovered. If I hadn’t laid out some form of distraction, they would have killed us.”

Raven clenched his Nasod hand into a fist. “I could’ve fought that thing off. It’s been intentionally avoiding me all this time. It’s because I’m a threat, right? We could have SAVED Chung with our combined efforts, but no, you thought it best to turn tail and flee.” He stood to his full height, glaring at Mastermind with enraged golden eyes. 

The other man returned his glare. “I’m not fighting for a lost cause. Sacrifice is necessary for our survival and success.”

Raven growled an inhuman growl as he stomped forward. Mastermind summoned his dynamos and formed a screen in front of him, ready to type in commands. Ara glanced back and forth at the two of them, panic rising in her chest.

“G-guys, I don’t think we should--”

“GO AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME!”

 

A familiar screaming caught their attention. The quarrel about to break out subsided as everyone turned to look in the direction from which a dozen hysterical yells streamed.

Although it was a bit hard to see at first, Ara recognized Aisha’s purple hair on the girl running for her life. Pursuing her was the dark, infected form of Ciel. By now most of him was green, which was a bit strange considering he’d only been infected for a few days. Paying it little mind, Ara jumped up and immediately ran through the air as fast as she could, heading straight in the direction of the terrified mage. Behind her she heard Raven screaming angrily, challenging the Alterasia as he dashed just behind her. 

Aisha didn’t stop running, but the moment she heard Raven’s yell she turned her head in their direction, her face brightening. She dared to look back at the infected Ciel for a moment, a disgusted scowl on her face, and raised her staff to teleport. The mage vanished for a mere moment before she reappeared just beneath Ara.

Ara stopped her glide, plopped down next to Aisha, and quickly checked her over for wounds.

“Are you okay?” She questioned. Before Aisha could answer, Raven stormed past them. Judging from the way his Nasod hand was clenched, both of them could guess he was about to unleash an attack. Quickly hugging Aisha to her chest, Ara turned away and readied a swift counter in case any backlash should hit them.

“X CRA--”

A pink explosion sent the Reckless Fist flying. He slammed into the sand next to Ara, Aisha hugging her tightly as sand flew at both of them. Ara looked up, seeing the Alterasia raise its head and make a strange snort as Mastermind calmly walked over to it, a diamond shaped drone following him. Next to them, Raven lifted himself out of the sand and growled angrily, gritting his teeth so hard they looked ready to crack.

The Alterasia’s eyes were closed, but it still seemed completely aware of MasterMind’s presence as he placed a hand on its shoulder, right where the neck slit ended, and promptly ripped a tiny bit of the green fuz on the edges of the cut away. It didn’t seem to feel pain or surprise at all. Ara felt a sudden bolt of fear as she slowly let go of Aisha and began to creep forward. The Ciel Alterasia had basically given a forced mastectomy to Rena, and here this man was approaching it like it was a human?!

MasterMind brought the fuzz close to his face and examined it. “A Type-F…” he muttered before turning back to his “allies”. “This one is harmless, everyone,” he announced. “The only thing it’s trying to do is feed us.”

Aisha stalked behind Ara, slowly approaching both Mastermind and the seemingly confused Alterasia. “Feed us?” 

Mastermind nodded and tossed the fuzz aside. The drone behind him immediately shot a beam which froze it in midair before drawing the stuff into it. “This Alterasia is a Type-F--a feeder. Their only job is to sacrifice themselves for the better of their hive. They don’t fight at all, but they have a fast recovery rate as well as a reproductive one.” He smiled slyly. “I can guess this one was also the reason so many Alterasia were mostly mature back in Sander. Must’ve wandered away, though.”

Raven stomped closer, fist clenched. “If it can produce more we should kill it. Now.”

Mastermind shook his head. “It would be doltish to let such a good specimen escape. Judging from it state--” he quickly looked over its green arms and torso-- “it’s capable of taking quite a beating. If that Type-B was eating this…well, it might be ready for emergence, then!” 

“Type-B?” They all said in unison.

“B for brute. They’re basic soldiers, a bit lower than the tankers. I’ll answer your question ahead of time: tankers are the highest class of Alterasia SOLDIER. They are horrifically annoying to kill due to their advanced bodies and damage capacity. To make matters worse, when they finally die they explode their heads to spread their spores everywhere else. Quite a gruesome creature.”

Aisha retched. Raven crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, keeping his glare on the Alterasia behind MasterMind. Aar slowly inched forwards, keeping her spear at the ready.

“If that thing can feed itself to the other Alterasia, wouldn’t it be best if we killed it?” She offered. “I just...well, we don’t want any fully mature ones running around! And this one hurt Rena! Isn’t that fact alone reason to kill it?”

 

MasterMind frowned. “Yes, I suppose…” He looked back at the Ciel Alterasia, which was now petting his ponytail. He slapped it and moving a few steps away from it. The Alterasia looked offended. “But such lovely research material going to waste--”

Before anyone could say anything more, Raven attacked the thing with a Wild Charge. The body was sent flying as Mastermind gaped and Aisha squealed.

“WHAT THE HELL, RECKLESS--” Before the Mastermind could finish his sentence, Raven punched him in the face, sadistic joy painting his eyes and smile. The scientist was smashed back, leaving a long slide mark in the sand. Raven’s smile faded as he turned away and walked menacingly towards the Alterasia, which had recovered and began to emit loud choked screeches.

Ara looked away as he smashed the thing into the sand, green and red fluids spilling everywhere.

 

 

“Hold still while I apply the ice,” Aisha warned as she formed a frost ball in her hand. Masterind glared away as the mage attempted to numb his bruised cheek with a small iceball. From the other side of their stone cover, Raven snickered. 

Ara sighed and looked to the horizon. It was about midday now. The natural heat of the desert had intensified and with it the rays of the sun. In this heat, it certainly wouldn't be long before their shades cover was rendered useless. 

She looked back at the remaining Elgang with concern plaguing her eyes. Only four of them (herself included) were awake, and the others showed no sign of life. Doubt bit at the back of her mind as she resolved what to do.

“Mastermind?” The white head turned towards her, eyes still glaring daggers. “When should your medicine wear off? We need to be leaving soon, and carrying our comrades in this heat could prove detrimental to our own health.”

He turned away again as he spoke. “It should wear off soon, as in the next fourteen minutes. Their bodies will still be fatigued, but the effect should wear off after about an hour. If we rush them, we can prevent the loss of a full half hour.”

“Or I could just put some ice on their ears?” Aisha broke in, placing her hands on her hips. “That usually wakes Elsword up.”

“M-maybe it’d be best if we didn’t do that,” Ara stated nervously. “They don’t need to be woken from their...uh...nine hour nap with cold!”

 

“Do as you please.” Mastermind waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t care.”

After a short debate, they decided to be patient.

 

 

The ruins lay just ahead of them. Everyone recognized the pile of rubble that had once been the Temple of Wind, relief spreading throughout the group as realization sunk in. They’d been travelling in the heat for at least two hours, and by now everyone (especially their half asleep comrades) was ready to fall over from heat exhaustion. Even the Mastermind, flying smoothly on his dynamos, looked tired as the rubble came into view.

“Almost there,” he yelled back, as if trying to reassure the search party. Next to Ara, Aisha hugged herself and formed a melting iceball in her hand. Rena, who looked the worst out of everyone, panted and gingerly touched the bloodied bandage on her breast. Next to her, Elesis placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered something. Her younger brother staggered nearby, losing his balance every now and then and hugging onto his sister for support. 

“What a sight we are…” Ara muttered to herself. Aisha hugged her arm, forming another iceball and holding it to her cheek. Raven stalked past them, his posture low and menacing as he approached the MasterMind.

“Hey, Mind,” he yelled, “what exactly do you plan on us doing after we arrive at the ruins?”

Mastermind didn’t even turn around. “Sander isn’t safe anymore, so I plan on moving us elsewhere. I have a teleportation device set up in the ruins, so transportation shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Where exactly will we be going?”

“It’s a secret,” Mastermind snapped. “The only reason we’re going there is because I need to prepare for the next Alterasia breakout and don’t have a place to store so many people.”

“So where is this place? What continent is in on, at least?”

 

“Altera. It’s currently the safest area I can think of.”

Ara thought back to Altera. It was known as the floating island and was inhabited by cute, harmless creatures known as Ponggos. They lived under the ground and had begged help from the search party when the Nasod invasion had begun so long ago.

She knit her eyebrows together. “What exactly is the place we’re going? What type of building is it?”

The side glare Mastermind cast in her direction was fierce enough to render everyone else silent for the rest of the hike.

A well deserved rest was finally taken when they arrived at the ruins. After selecting a shady spot, Ara took to reapplying the bandages on Rena and Elsword. Elesis helped wrap them up while Aisha supplied ice, and Raven and Eve stayed on lookout while Mastermind disappeared into the ruins, off to find his teleporter. For a short while, the search party functioned together again, taking care of each other like a family would.

After what felt like hours, Mastermind returned. His original smirk had resurfaced and, as if proof was needed, he had brought several new bottles of water. After distributing them, supplies were repacked as everyone prepared for a short walk deeper into the ruins.

It was Eve who asked the first question. “Mastermind, you propose that teleportation will work best for us, if I remember correctly. Aren’t you excluding a few flaws and rules here?”

 

“Not really.” Add waved his hand at her before opening a screen before him and typing a few numbers in. “Our chances of success are at eighty percent. By removing our supplies, we increase our probability of success by fourteen percent. I’m afraid that you’ll have to risk that horrific six percent, Eve.””

Eve narrowed her eyes and looked away.

“How deep in the ruins is your transporter?” Aisha asked as they neared the area where the temple ruins met the stony wall. “I know this place, and I know for a FACT there’s nothing back here.”

Mastermind laughed. “You obviously don’t have a trained eye, then.” His dynamos opened another screen, this one with coordinates and a map from above. A few small diamond-like markers were beeping on the screen, and when he tapped one it stopped beeping and glowed. 

Before them, pressed right against the stone wall, a swirling ball of purple electricity suddenly formed. Beneath it, Ara noticed a tiny purple stand which she hadn’t seen before. The center of the ball was completely white, but as MasterMind switched maps and presumably activated another one, it opened up to reveal a dim area. Through the hole, Ara could make out a few table corners and one large screen. Aisha gasped.

MasterMind gestured to the portal, smiling creepily. “Who’s first?”

Eve stepped forward, her servant Oberon following her. “Oberon, test the portal,” she commanded. Her servant nodded and walked to the portal, placing a hand through the center. The portal stretched open a bit more to allow his arm to follow through. The Nasod leaned in a bit more before pulling out of it and returning to his queen. He bowed and held out his hand to the portal, head lowered.

Eve unsummoned him and headed to the portal, performing Oberon’s same action. When the portal expanded, she sighed and let the rest of her arm follow through. When it opened wide enough for her to completely pass through, she closed her eyes and glided through it. The circle immediately returned to its small default size, and now Eve’s skirt could be seen through the center.

Add gestured to the portal. “Completely safe. Who’s next?”

Aisha braved it, Elesis following her. Raven insisted on being last to keep an eye out for threats. It wasn’t long before Ara, Add, and Raven were the only ones remaining. Ara breathed in, bracing herself for the long distance movement, and stepped towards the portal, trying to ignore the menacing smile on the white-haired man standing next to it.

She reached her hand in, feeling empty space and cooler air in front of it. She groped around for a moment before steeling herself and forcing the rest of her arm through. The portal seemed to do the rest of the work, her body pulled through to another area in the blink of an eye. The change in lighting was so drastic Ara cringed for a moment before her eyes began to adjust. 

Crowding around her was Rena and Aisha, both quickly checking her for wounds. She tuned their voices out as she took in the room around her, large and dark and filled with empty steel tables. On the wall sat an enormous computer screen accompanied by dozens of smaller ones. Small wires connected all of them, their screens black. A few feet from the wall was what appeared to be a control panel. Dozens of small holes containing unactivated lightbulbs dotted the ceiling above. Two doors stood on opposite ends, each containing a symbol that consisted of a small circle outlined by a large one with a small line pointing down to their center.

Ara blinked and focused back on her allies. Eve was testing the doors and examining the room. Aisha and Rena, finished with their check, were now standing by the table next to her, waiting for their next member to follow. Elesis was sitting against the wall with her brother, who was leaning against her, seemingly asleep. Her posture made her appear ready to leap at anything. She continuously glanced around like a caged animal, eyes wild, fire occasionally flickering at her fingertips. 

Ara turned around, looking back at the portal behind her. It was just like the one in Sander, even boasting similar placement. Through it, she could see the shaded sands of the ruins and one of Mastermind’s dynamos. Low voices sounded through it, and from their tone Ara guessed Raven and Add were having a problem with who entered first. She sighed and walked away from the portal, glancing around before deciding to use a table as her temporary perch.

A scream disturbed the tranquility of the room the moment she sat down. Ara yelped as she fell off the table and landed on her face, pain lacing through her nose as she pulled herself up and sniffed. She reached for her spear as Elesis stood, gently moving her brother to lean against the wall instead of her. The red-haired knight moved towards the portal, her eyes cautious. Fire began to dance around her fingertips as she neared. 

Rena was already looking into the portal, unsure of what to do. The orb revealed only sand. She turned around and stood in front of it, smiling calmly as Elesis stopped in front of her.

“Relax,” she reassured. “Most likely, they just had a minor disagreement. It isn’t uncommon for Ra--”

A loud roar sounded through the portal as red fluid splatted against the golden sand. Elesis leaped through before Rena could object or even move, the sudden disortion causing the portal to object with a crackling noise. Another scream of pain and rage sounded, this one belonging to Raven. Ara grabbed her spear and quickly tested the portal, praying nothing would bite her, before repeating Elesis’s movement and leaping through.

Ara’s leap propelled her forward so she landed about ten feet away from the struggle, sparing her from the creature causing it. She readied her spear and rose up, fully expecting a fight as she whipped around.

The scene she saw was cruel.The blood seen through the portal was merely a few stragglers from their real source. Raven, who was struggling a few feet away from the portal, was screaming and clawing at the small creature on his back. The skin on Raven’s upper chest and back had been torn away, and the creature gripping his shoulders dug its long claws in deeper the more he struggled, causing sudden spurts to throw his blood everywhere. Elesis had ducked behind some rubble and was focusing on the vicious creature, forming and throwing small fireballs made to hit the creature and not her comrade.

Elesis let out a loud yell and lugged a larger fireball straight for the monsters spiky wings. It responded with a loud roar and raised its head, opening jaws none of them knew it had. Long fangs camouflaged as markings bit into the side of Raven’s neck. He cried out in pain and finally grabbed the creature by its head, tearing it off and lugging at a collapsing stone wall. The creature roared as it collided with the rock. It recovered the moment it hit the ground, hopping up and lowering itself as it opened its large palms to display its long claws.

The very same rock slammed onto it before it could charge at them, thick green substance splatting everywhere as the creature was crushed by the heavy stone.

Ara quickly looked back to Raven, who was drooping like a wilted flower. His torso was covered in his own blood, and now his neck was bleeding at a rapid rate. His breathing was heavy, and the blood loss he was experiencing certainly didn’t perform any favors for the already exhausted half-nasod.

Elesis got to him before Ara could, quickly using herself as his support as she dragged him towards the portal. Raven coughed, sending more blood droplets flying. Ara, deciding to help as well, ran forward and supported his human half on her shoulders. Raven was heavy, but she could deal with his weight, and with Elesis’s help their trudge to the portal was made much easier. She glanced around quickly and realized that MasterMind was nowhere to be seen.

As they neared the portal, she contemplated exactly how they’d fit everyone in--they certainly couldn’t throw Raven in alone, and if they were to all go through--  
Fear stabbed through her as a muffled roar broke through the air. Ara had barely turned her head towards the stone as the creature beneath it broke through. At first all she saw was the enormous claws. Demonic magic swirled around its claws and arms as the creature burst out. It lowered itself to the stone, growling menacingly with its mouth partly open, the long fangs that framed the side of its cheeks bloody.

It was an Alterasia just like Type H. There was no visible human remains on it, but its shape was still humanoid. Its skin was completely green and on its back it boasted two small but sharp wings resembling twisted horns. An orange visor flecked with blue covered its upper face, the edges of the visor curling upwards. Around its neck and upper chest, a greenish white fuzz grew, the edges a lovely royal blue. Its arms were lined with dozens of small spurs that continued down to the fingers where the bone might have been. What scared her the most were its hands and claws. Instead of normal looking palms with five digits, it boasted large palms with four fingers, each one ending in an enormous curved claw.

The magic surrounding its claws and arms belonged to Lu. She recognized the four pointed star and design. It was a bit modified, the color more turquoise, but it was still Lu.

The thought made her sick. Before her was the creature that had once been Lu, the little demon empress. The little girl who had recently joined them with her butler but had already begun forming relations. Lu wasn’t the nicest person, but Ara didn’t hate her, and she most certainly didn’t want to fight or kill her.

And now here she was, before the creature imitating Lu’s magic and body. Next to her, Raven let out a low groan.

Ara herself felt paralyzed. She had three options: dive into the portal alone, fight this Alterasia but risk Raven’s life, or make a run for it with Raven and Elesis. Her best option would be fighting, but that left her against an opponent aggressive enough to mortally wound Raven. If she ran, she’d be nothing but a coward. If she was to charge for the portal with Elesis and Raven, she’d need a mental connection she didn’t have, and they’d risk the Alterasia leaping at them.

Inside of her, Ara felt something shift, and her eyes suddenly blazed with righteous fury. She glared at the Alterasia, which had surprisingly remained still, and slowly slipped herself out from beneath Raven. Elesis left out a grunt but kept her hold as Ara walked forward, brandishing her spear threateningly.

No words needed to be exchanged. The power of Eun was flowing throughout Ara, empowering every bit of her as her hair turned white and fell down. Her eyes turned red, small red scars forming along her cheeks and little fangs forming in her mouth. Finally, nine white, semi-transparent tails formed on her, bouncing up and down eagerly as she neared the Alterasia.

Behind her, she heard Elesis dragging Raven towards the portal. They were almost there, and when they arrived Rena would tend to them both. All Ara had to do was crush this puny bug.

“Let’s finish this,” she whispered to Eun. “FLYING KITE!”

 

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.” Rena’s voice trembled as she slowly stood over Raven’s bleeding body, her eyes filled with tears. “The punctures in his back and neck...they’re too much. I’m sorry Elesis.” She wiped away a stray droplet as it slid down her cheek. “He’s...not going to make it.”

Elesis remained crouched next to Raven, pressing the torn cloth on Raven’s chest harder. He was still breathing, but by now it was a wild struggle to keep the blood from pumping out, and she was running out of jacket. Aisha had quit after nearly throwing up twice, and Elsword hadn’t once moved from his spot by the wall. Even Rena, using all the elven magic she could, was finding it impossible to heal him.

Beneath her hands, Raven coughed. A bit of blood flew out of his mouth and onto the floor, forming small bloodstains which were quickly consumed by the growing puddle around him. His breaths were becoming slower and slower, and her efforts were doing so little. It was a miracle the man was still alive, and even then he was fading fast. Rena, unable to take it anymore, turned away, head lowered.

Elesis squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip. Beneath her, Raven let out a wheeze and another cough, sending a few blood droplets onto her face. She could feel his life fading beneath her hands and it hurt so much. Another one her comrades would be lost to Alterasia. Another one she couldn’t save, another one who’d died improperly, without good reason. In a way, it helped fuel her internal fire, but it also dimmed it. She resisted letting flames form as Raven suddenly hacked up a spurt of blood and went still.

She no longer detected a heartbeat. Elesis slowly pulled the rag away, more blood spurting out when she did so. She breathed out, grief building rapidly in her chest. 

“We...we should give him a proper funeral,” she said at last, disturbing the silence of the room. Rena, who had positioned herself on a table, looked over with sad eyes.

“I agree,” she spoke at last, moving her gaze to the floor. “When Alterasia dies...we’ll recover everyone and give them proper funerals. They can’t remain so...disrespected. It’s not right.”

Elesis stood, Raven’s blood pouring down her legs. She walked over to Rena and sat next to her, attempting to console the sad elf. Nearby, the still open portal let out a loud crackle. The scene outside showed night and thick clumps of rusty sand.

Elesis raised her head to stare at it. It had been hours since Ara had charged the Alterasia outside, and she still hadn’t come back. Part of her wished to deny it, but her logical side refused to let it go: Ara, in Eun mode, could have been overpowered and killed. She glanced back at Raven’s body, shifting her gaze between him and the portal.

It also means we could have two new Alterasia on our hands, she thought to herself, unless I…

Fire danced around her fingertips for a mere moment. Nearby, Aisha sniffled.

“Ara isn’t...coming back?”

Next to her, Rena trembled. “She...she’ll return, Aisha. Don’t...don’t worry. Ara is….Ara is…” She never finished her sentence, for in the middle of it she began to sob. Rena’s crying prompted Aisha, and even Elesis found herself fighting back tears. Elsword still hadn’t shifted at all, which only upset her even more.

Eve walked to the center of the room, her face blank as ever. “Everyone, listen. I have found no way to break the seals on the doors. We’ve lost several of our allies today, which is...unfortunate. I figure it shall be destructive to our survival rates, but I am afraid I must inform you of a new problem: this room is nothing but a prison to us. Our only way out is by that portal, which means we shall immediately near the Alterasia. We may have to remain in the desert for a while, but I believe it would be best for us to attempt a return to Hamel. If we can make it there before the Alterasia, then we can--”

“Do not. Attempt. To escape. It will. End. In failure. Horrible. Bloody. Failure.”

The quiet voice came from the left door. They all turned to face it, recognizing the voice--  
and gasping when they saw exactly who stood there.

Two figures occupied the space in front of the door, belonging to two versions of the same person. They all recognized Mastermind, his stained coat and long hair giving him away immediately. But the other one, the one holding him up off the ground, their fingers dug into his skull…

That was the one whose corpse they’d help drag to Eve’s lab, the one who oozed black and red.  
The one named Esper.

Esper looked in worse condition than he had when Lunatic Psyker had ripped his lower jaw off. The long wound was still there, extending down past his collarbone to his sternum and still oozing black fluid. Dozens of tiny Alterasia flowers were growing out of the top where his upper jaw was, and they only increased in size as they travelled downwards. Like the other Alterasia, he boasted small spurs on the visible areas of his light green skin (as most of his body suit was still intact) and small wings on his back. The skin was decaying, causing burn like wounds to form over his exposed side and face. His eyes were black and open wide, their irises having long disappeared, leaving empty voids to serve in their place. Black fluid drizzled out of the nose and eyes, streaming down to his permanently open mouth to stain the green teeth on display. 

Aisha turned to the side and puked again. Rena hugged herself but still managed to jump up, ready for a fight. Eve summoned her servants as Elesis readied her fireballs, keeping a fixated glare on the Alterasia.

It didn’t seem intimidated in the least, paying them little mind as it raised Mastermind’s limp body. To their surprise, Mastermind started to talk in broken sentences, mouth moving like a dummy’s.

“You are being. Slow. Stupid. Foolish. Impulsive. Stop this. And listen. To our warning.”


	7. Perish

The desert was cold at night, but she wouldn’t let that discourage her. The fleeing Alterasia sparked the predatory spirit within her, preventing her from turning around. Ara chased after its retreating form, her eyes focused primarily for the back of its neck. 

The creature was letting off loud squeaks while it ran, the fluid dripping from its broken wings and claw gradually slowing it. She halted her chase for a mere moment, watching the creature pathetically attempt to place distance between them. Ara poised herself to leap, holding her spear to her side.

The moment it staggered she jumped, twisting in midair to properly position her spear for decapitation. The creature let out one final screech before its body fell over, bleeding out more green fluid. Ara landed on one foot, balancing herself carefully before allowing the other to gently tap onto the ground. The pain in her foot and leg was miniscule and quickly faded as she loomed over the corpse, examining it to ensure it wouldn’t get up.

It didn’t, and after waiting a solid ten minutes Ara turned in the direction of the Ruins. In the night, even with her enhanced vision, she couldn’t see the silhouette. Eun’s power was beginning to fade, and the fatigue she should have been feeling finally began to settle in. Ara sighed, glancing over at the creature before returning to the horizon.

Despite her tired body, she still jumped into the air and ran, the ground below passing quickly as she headed for the Ruins.

 

 

“You are. Trapped. Cornered. There isn’t. A way out. Here. There lurks. One of us. We won’t. Wait long. For. You. The future is red. And green. Accept your. Defeat now. And receive a. Painless. Conversion.”

Elesis found the way the Alterasia controlled Mastermind like a puppet quite disturbing. His eyes were completely blank, his mouth moving stiffly, his limbs hanging limply at his side. The Esper Alterasia was completely focused on them and not his victim, holding him up with one hand despite how thin he was.Those soulless black eyes stared straight into Elesis’s, and she returned the look with the fiercest glare she could manage.

It wasn’t bothered by her glare at all. “We become. Like dominant creatures. Like we were designed.” It lowered Mastermind, letting his legs drag on the floor as it stalked along the wall, never once looking away from the Elgang. “Humanity. Is our cattle. You cannot. Kill us. Give up.”

Elesis responded by forming a fireball in her hand and readying it for throwing. The Alterasia was unfazed.

“Fools. You were. Given a chance. Do not linger. Here. It will. End. Disastrously.”

 

It crouched and laid Mastermind’s body facedown. They all watched as the vein-like roots withdrew from his head and into the creature’s fingertips. They were stained with blood and quickly soiled the Esper’s gloves as it stood up completely.

Elesis threw her fireball right as a rip opened behind the creature. It fell through, its eyes remaining locked on her the entire time, black and devoid as the tear closed.The flame uselessly collided with the wall, leaving a scorch mark over Mastermind’s body. 

Rena slowly stepped towards the fallen scientist, two nature orbs beginning to encircle her. Aisha readied her staff and remained in place, as if expecting the Esper to strike again. Next to her, Eve folded her arms and strode away, eyes blank.

Elesis, who was more concerned for her brother, let the Mastermind be the second she heard Elsword groan. Upon turning to her brother she saw he was now lying on the ground, the bandages on his head soaked with his blood and leaking onto the floor. A sharp dagger of fear stabbed her chest as he suddenly cried out and grabbed at his eye. She dashed over and kneeled next to him, ignoring the pain in her torso from the sudden movement, and propped his head up to check if it held any extra wounds.

Elsword let out another groan and went limp. Forcing herself to stay calm, Elesis glanced over at Rena, who was still busy with Mastermind, and gently picked her brother up. She kept her gait slow and steady as she walked towards the elf.

Rena was focused on Mastermind’s head. The white hair was stained with red, which was starting to drip down his head and neck. She was slowly healing the open wounds, muttering something in a tongue Elesis didn’t understand.

Elesis waited until she was done before holding Elsword out but refusing to let go of him. Rena slowly removed the bloodied bandages, revealing half of Elsword’s face was covered in his own blood. The empty eye socket was now a shade of red so deep it was almost black. Rena set to healing it, her usual cheerfulness gone as silence once again ruled their world.

It only made it worse when she gasped and pointed out the green spots dotting his eyelids.

 

 

The first thing Mastermind registered was a throbbing in his head. From the moment he’d regained conscious he’d felt something on the back of his head throbbing wildly, and with each throb came a dull pain that refused to fade. He felt like he had a fever; his entire body was uncomfortably hot and heavy and covered in disgusting sweat. 

He finally opened his eyes and immediately regretted it as a stinging pain filled his skull. They squeezed shut again, but the pain still remained, only worsening as he tried to focus on something, anything else. As another severe throb pounded through his head, he wondered if someone had removed his headband and earpieces. It’d been so long he’d forgotten the original pain of connecting himself to his dynamos; had the Alterasia somehow removed it?

Alterasia. The Alterasia had grabbed him and jabbed its roots into his head. Had it dug through his skull? No, he’d be dead if that had happened. Was he infected? He already felt tired, so that was a definite possibly. No, nevermind that, what kind of Alterasia had roots? A parasite didn’t develop roots; what conditions had been met to allow this one to develop such a trait?

 

From nearby he heard a voice. It sounded feminine, but it was incoherent. Mastermind--no, Add--tried to shut it out, attempting to recall the events with the Alterasia. He’d gestured for Raven to enter, who’d denied him and instructed him to go first, an argument about to break out. He’d quietly commanded his dynamos to emit a paralysing shock, subtly aiming for Raven, when an Alterasia roared. Black gloved fingers wrapped around his face, sharp and cold. He just barely saw a fully matured Alterasia nearby, freed of its host, grab Raven and throw him. He’d screamed, and then…

The world began to fade as something sharp dug into the back of his head. It felt horrible, like worms crawling beneath his skin, cold and wriggly and thin. They moved so quickly, and he’d cried out when one brushed against his eyeball. He’d felt so violated. The desert felt mocking now, green and black and red cracks creeping at the edge of his vision, the pain in his head starting to intensify, those roots spreading…

Can you hear me?

The voice had been in his head, uncontrollable and loud, disturbing his thoughts and just barely preventing him from passing out.

You’re still awake. Impressive.

He felt something shift around his body, and suddenly the heat was unbearable. The air felt damp and reeked of mold. He would’ve coughed if his body was still his to control.

So, do you still see the world? See what has become of your Velder? 

Velder? He couldn’t care less about Velder! 

Oh, you don’t feel so well. I dug too far, didn’t I? Let me check…

More roots. More piercing. They moved down his neck, straight to his chest, curling nicely around bone, moving around to--

The pain was so sharp his vision blacked, but the world wasn’t ready to let him stop suffering. Still, that voice remained.

Hmm, to hold other creatures against their will...I can move you...you hurt, do you not? How easy it would be to bREAK your skull, make you one of them. ...You’re probably wondering how I can talk to you, why I’m not just growling and grumbling or thinking of spreading.

Did you know that, even when killed, a bit still remains? That bit that remains is your greatest desire or will, whatever drove you to stay alive, and it helps to fuel the Alterasia. They were originally designed to feed off El, you remember. But these now, they’re evolved. And now they keep the El in your body to get a double. They keep the life in you by forcing your desire to hold even a tiny fragment of you. You know what my greatest desire was in the end, MasterMind?

 

To be rid of you. To escape from your clutches, make you suffer like you’ve done me. It’s all I was in the end, so I kept my mind. In a way, I will thank you--I’m an Alterasia now, and perhaps the only sentient one, and it’s all because of you. Even that Kaiser holds no semblance of Lusa. But me? I’m more than just an animated corpse. Remember that when I return without a puppet to control and circle you till you lose your mind all over again.

 

Try as he might, Add couldn’t recall anything else. He attempted one more time before giving up and focusing on the pain all over his body. 

“Come on...work…”

Rena’s voice. The pain began to fade. With a bit of a struggle, Add managed to open in his eyes. The first thing he took in was Rena’s skirt, followed by her single breast and face as he looked up at the elf healing him. She noticed his movement and forced a smile. Add would’ve waved her off if he could’ve moved his hand. Limited to only moving his head, he glanced around, taking in the dim experimentation room, and sighed before staring up at the ceiling.

 

It took about an hour, but he finally gathered enough strength to stand and review the list of members left alive. Rena was intact and showing no signs of contamination, which meant she must’ve lost so much blood she bled the parasite out. Aisha hadn’t been exposed to proper infection, but her spirits were noticeably low, and he dubbed it necessary to bring her mood back up in order to return her battle capabilities. Eve was as quiet and emotionless as ever, most likely untrusting of him. And the red haired siblings were both leaned against the wall. Elsword was out, most likely showing signs of the Alterasia parasite. Judging from the way Elesis was sobbing over his body, Add knew he wasn’t far from the truth.

Mastermind.

Add froze, horrified as the clear voice sounded through his head.

Remember your position, Mastermind. You have five hours.

Five hours until what? Five hours to prepare? What was Esper planning?

Well, it obviously isn’t going to be good for me, he thought wearily. Judging from what I can remember, Esper wants me dead. He retained his ability to teleport and is apparently sentient… So I can’t make any risky decisions at all. Activating all of security is unnecessary, but for all I know Esper could just pop up behind me at any second. The fact that he developed roots as well is rather troublesome. I should research this… Even it’s a mere five hours, I can move fast enough to solve this.

He subconsciously walked towards the right door, already opening a screen as the remainder of his dynamos twirled excitedly.

“Mastermind? What are you doing?” Aisha’s voice, troubled from his sudden movements. 

“I’m heading to my main lab,” he answered without facing her. As the map of his laboratory was opened, he tapped on a few of the red lock icons, unlocking his main work space, experimentation room, and rest area. Even if it meant they had to enjoy a few of his luxuries, he could sacrifice a few sweets for pawns to protect himself. Noticing the Sander portal was still open, he promptly closed it before moving on to his next task.

He double tapped the icon for the door in front of them, the symbol lighting up for a moment before the double doors slid into the walls. They revealed a room larger than their first, filled with computers and furniture. Everything from a desk and control center to a dissection table and chemical lab were stored here. 

Add gestured for the rest of the search party to follow as he walked in, immediately heading for the door located at the far right. The others stuck closely to him, quiet as ever all save for Elesis. He double tapped the door to the rest area and opened it before turning to the search party and pointing inside. 

“Here is where you’ll be staying. I don’t enjoy being bothered while I research, so avoid leaving it for almost all scenarios. There is a bathroom, a food supply, and enough cushions for you all to share.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “Just don’t disturb me.”

No one obeyed, and his temper flared slightly. “Do you have a problem with this?” He asked, not bothering to hide the obvious aggravation from his voice.

“Yeah,” Elesis said harshly. “We’re not staying locked up in some room where we’re vulnerable to Alterasia attacks. That black eyed creep said there’s one around here, which you better fess up to. And speaking of Alterasia…” She held out her unconscious brother and stepped forward, eyes blazing. “Fix him. Now.”

Add stepped back and raised an eyebrow. “Fix him from what, exactly?”

 

“Alterasia, you pretentious fuck.”

Add refused to let any anger show on his face. “I can’t cure Alterasia. Once you’re infected, you’re beyond help. Sorry, Elesis, but it looks like we’ll have to kill your brother.”

 

“NO!” Elesis’s angry yell echoed through the room. “I’m NOT KILLING HIM! I WON’T! You must’ve had some backup plan if you got infected, so stop pretending a cure doesn’t exist and fix my little brother!”

Her determination was a bit impressive, but Add wasn’t about to give away his single use Alterasia cure for a brat who’d ruined his Nasod research. “There isn’t a cure, Elesis,” he stated blatantly. “If I had one, I’d have administered it immediately. It isn’t worth it to lose an ally as powerful as your brother.”

The glare she gave him caused goosebumps. “You’re lying.”

“You can accuse me of lying all you want, but you have no evidence against me. You’re powerless in this fight, Elesis, and you need to learn to accept your place. I’m sad to say it, but Elsword is doomed.”

Elesis looked ready to lunge for his throat, and for once he thanked Elsword for being in the right place at the right time.

“So,” he gestured to the rest area, “who’s first?”

 

First order of business, Esper. Add sat at his desk, hands folded on it as he stared at the screen in front of him. An image of the original Alterasia was shown on it, as well as the advanced Type-H, a fully matured Kaiser, and the basic forms of several other fully matured types. He impatiently tapped his finger against his cheek before pulling up the original DNA sequence, followed by the advanced ones, and stared at them closely. Finally, he brought up the checklist of conditions and environments required to create certain Alterasia. With a few motions he created a new one, quickly charting down characteristics and conditions as well as appearance.

“Conditions: lacks a jaw and thus a feeding and communication method. Added to a corpse rotting for at least three days. Lost at least a third of the blood in the body. Used for probable research. Kaiser is present. Created in an area not contaminated. Few accompanying Alterasia.” He paused before adding, “Most likely awakened in Eve’s lab.”

“Characteristics: bleeds black. Lacks a lower jaw. Harbors ‘roots’ in hand which can be freely extended or withdrawn. Highly intelligent. Uses dynamos. Apparently sentient due to issues relating to El.”

“Appearance: remains thin. Has not left host yet; preferably will not. Green patches appear on degrading flesh. Flowers have already bloomed all over neck wound. Pearls and petals appear darker in color. Retains Esper’s bodysuit.”

He sat back, looking over the facts. The Alterasia was highly intelligent and boasted a never before seen characteristic. It claimed to be sentient, somehow talking in his head. Could the roots be traced back to Esper’s fatal wound? Was his reason for being “sentient” truly related to the El? 

Add leaned back in his chair. Esper seemed determined to kill him, that much he could gather. It acknowledged the Kaiser without any revering, seemingly indifferent towards its “leader”. If what it had said was true, all of this was indeed related to the El. 

“Good Ebalon, Esper,” he laughed, bringing a hand to his forehead, “I know you hate me, but was it really worth resurrecting yourself over?”

An alarm blared on the computer, startling him. Add almost fell out of his chair, barely recovering and opening a screen. A red warning icon was flashing over the room next to his experimentation chamber, which only meant--  
Add’s blood went cold. He quickly switched to cameras, checking in on the creature inside of that cage. It was gone, and in its place was a message written in dark letters:

Yes it was.

 

 

The door slid open, prompting Aisha to look up from her perch on a beanbag. They’d been in here for about an hour, trying to entertain each other with conversation and occasional tricks, but not once would the gloom lift from the room. Against the wall, Elesis still cradled her brother, whispering promises that she couldn’t fulfill. She didn’t look up when the doors opened. Rena, who was munching on a chocolate bar, paid full attention to them. Eve, who had been investigating the walls, barely glanced over her shoulder.

Mastermind stood in the doorway, a screen littered with red dots and one large red triangle open before him. His focus was entirely on it, barely paying any mind to his surroundings until Aisha said something.

“Why is there a warning on your screen?” She asked, masking the worry from her voice. MasterMind looked up at last, quickly closing the screen and looking around.

“Everyone’s here…” he muttered. “Good. Alright, we’re not using this room anymore.” He turned around and began walking back into his lab. “Hurry up and get in here before you get locked in there for twenty four hours.” He reopened the screen and double tapped the triangle, closing it.

Aisha was the first out, followed by Eve, Rena, and with a bit of coaxing, Elesis and Elsword. The second the last of them left, the doors quickly shut, and the symbol on the doors glowed a dark purple. Aisha turned away from them, focusing on the enormous computers above the desk Mastermind sat at. He was typing something in, dozens of maps pulling up on the screen as he clicked one final key. Before she could really determine what was happening, he’d opened a screen on his dynamos and typed in some form of command. What Aisha could decipher, however, was the large “LOCKDOWN ACTIVATED” on the computer screen.

“Why did you just--” She began, quickly cut off by Eve. “What has happened?” The Nasod asked, apathetic as ever. “Your systems are displaying warnings.”

Mastermind responded by covering his face with both of his hands and letting out a sigh. “Just a minor security breach. One of my projects got out.”

 

“If this was minor, why did you lockdown the entire facility?”

Before Mastermind could answer, a loud slam sounded through the air, accompanied by a loud and familiar roar. Aisha felt a bolt of fear run down her spine as she turned towards its origin: the very experimentation room from before. Behind her, Elesis let out an angry growl.

“What the hell is that?” The red knight snarled, glaring over at Mastermind. In her arms, Elsword shifted a little bit.

“It’s...an Alterasia.” Mastermind seemed reluctant to say those words. “One I brought over from another world.”

“Why did you keep it from us?” Eve said blankly, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Because he’s a damn dirty lying traitor,” Elesis spat, tightening her grip on her younger brother. “A damn dirty liar who killed Chung and dragged us into a trap.” She stepped forward, gently placing her brother down before igniting her fist. “And unless he gives me a good explanation for his actions,” she said as she stomped towards him, “I’m gonna show him the REAL power of the captain of the Red Knights.”

Add stood and called his dynamos, the diamond shaped utensils discharging enough electricity to keep Elesis at bay. 

“I wouldn’t suggest that,” he threatened, opening another screen with a few spare dynamos. “Unless, of course, you want to be splattered on the wall like a stain.” 

Elesis’s arms ignited this time as well. Aisha stepped back, quickly casting a fire resistance spell. She saw Rena and Eve retreating, keeping their focus on Elesis the entire time. Even Mastermind help a hint of fear in his eyes and voice.

“No reason to get so fired up, Elesis. We can discuss this like mature adults.” He never once took his eyes off her as he typed another command into his dynamo system. Three small drones formed behind the man, and Aisha could sense the air in the room beginning to electrify.

“Tell me what that thing is, why it’s here, and why you refuse to cure my brother. NOW.” Elesis took a step forward menacingly.

Mastermind stood his ground. “That thing is an Alterasia from another world. Type K specifically. It’s here for research and samples, nothing more. And I already told you, an Alterasia cure doesn’t exist. I can’t do anything for your brother!”

Elesis moved forward again, raising her fist. 

“I’m not lying!”

 

Another step, fire beginning to rage.

“Elesis, listen to reason for El’s sake! I’m not the threat here!”

She was dangerously close now, just barely out of range from the electricity.

“Dear El Lady, you’re worse than your brother.” Add rolled his eyes and promptly tapped the open screen. The drones behind him suddenly lit up, turning a bright pink. Before Elesis could react, three powerful lasers wracked her body, forcing the red knight to the ground. Her fire began to extinguish itself, becoming nothing but tiny sparks on her hands.

MasterMind glowered down at her, stopping the lasers with another tap. “If you’re going to play like that, Elesis, I have no choice but to take action. Do you realize that now?” He bent over, staring her in the face.

Elesis whipped around faster than he could react and punched him hard in the face. Mastermind reeled back, grabbing at the burn mark on his cheek, and let out an angry cry before turning away and leaning on the desk. Elesis forced herself up slowly, practically looming over the cowering scientist.

Another roar sounded through the lab. Aisha noticed it sounded much closer, and she shivered at the thought of meeting the creature making those noises. Eve had explained the Alterasia issue to her while they were in that resting room, and just picturing another version of Type H, bigger and meaner and hungry for human flesh made her nauseous.

So of course, she almost had a heart attack when Elsword suddenly let out a low growl and began to squirm. Elesis didn’t seem to notice her brother’s sudden movements or the continuous roars that seemed to command him. Her attention was on the scientist gingerly tapping at his cheek, who only now focused on her, his eyes filled with anger. The second he noticed Elsword, rising behind Elesis, he smiled sadistically and pointed straight at him.

“Elesis, behind you!” Rena screamed too late. Elsword let out a mixed roar and lunged for his sister. 

The red haired knight turned just in time to receive the attack, the small sparks on her hands forming blazes as Elsword grabbed her shoulders and bit her breast. Aisha could see a mixture of sorrow, anger, and reluctance as Elesis punched Elsword just like she’d done Add.

Her brother screamed and jumped back, grabbing at his face. Aisha tasted bile as the skin slid off, exposing a red (but partially green) area beneath. Elesis stared pleadingly at her brother, small tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Elsword growled at her, forming a rune in his hand and preparing to launch it. Aisha formed a fireball, forced herself not to puke, and quickly decided to use magic missile at the last moment. Before she could cast it, however, Eve reacted.

“Space Wrench.” She summoned Oberon, who immediately slashed an X shaped shockwave straight at Elsword. Elesis let out a cry and moved to block it, stopping too late as it collided with her and her brother. 

The Alterasia growled and backed away, brandishing its runes defensively. It cowered back, bared its teeth, and let out a loud squeak. Mastermind straightened up, fear dancing in his eyes for a moment as he bolted towards the right door.

“HEY!” GET BACK HERE!” Elesis ran after him, but a summoned drone quickly shot an electrifying burst at her, forcing her to stop as more electricity coursed through her body. Aisha unleashed her missile, aiming for the fleeing scientist, and Eve pointed Oberon after him. Rena was the only one paying any attention to Elsword, who had calmed with the roars from nearby.

Mastermind opened another screen, typing swiftly with both hands. Aisha couldn’t make out what he input, only that the door suddenly opened and he disappeared through it. Elesis glared in his direction as it slammed shut.

“Coward,” she spat as she fell over.

 

 

The second he was out of the search party’s reach, Add knew he was vulnerable. The El Search Party might not realize it, but they were being fooled, and he knew that spelling it out wasn’t going to help the situation. Esper was smarter than he’d realized, releasing the Kaiser he’d been experimenting on and moving it closer to them. He knew Elsword was infected enough to listen to a superior, and he knew Elesis was angry at his copy for keeping a cure from her. Spreading discord throughout the survivors was easy, and now Esper had one lone target who could only override a door twice.

Add was finally starting to see his alternate self as a threat. He quickly checked a few other cameras, finding the rooms all empty and normal save for the experimentation room. It had been a while, but he recognized the one-winged Kaiser pacing around in the room. It held its signature sword in one hand, its other arm held to the side for balance. It seemed to be looking for an exit it wouldn’t find.

He felt his heartbeat slow a little. The benefits of lockdown were increased security and containment; the downfalls were also just that. He’d programmed the ability to unlock and reopen doors in--but only twice, because not once did he think he’d end up in a situation like this. Enemies from both areas, allies and foes, were out for his head. His own lab and technology would soon become a blockade for any form of self preservation. 

Add sighed and reviewed his options, attempting to formulate backup plans in case anything else should go wrong. 

 

 

“Elesis, we have to kill him.” Eve was naturally apathetic, but now she sounded like she was forcing it. “There’s no other way.”

Elesis’s frown thinned, both of her hands clenching into fists. “I...I know. It’s just...he’s my brother. I don’t know if I can kill him.” She looked to her younger brother, who was propped up against Mastermind’s desk, his body unconscious. Rena was watching him, her expression filled with sorrow.

“Elesis,” Rena started, not looking away from the red haired boy, “I know it feels painful, but Eve has a point.” Her words sounded forced. She folded her arms and stared at the ground. “I think we all...have to agree on this one. Elsword is infected. He’ll become dangerous, especially if that thing starts roaring again. If we put him out of his misery now, then...maybe he won’t feel so bad in the afterlife. We might save him from a few days of suffering.”

Elesis turned to the elf, distress now making itself visible on her face. “I know. I know doing this could save him, and prevent another tragedy, but...fighting tragedy with tragedy? Isn’t that just a bit...wrong?”

“I...I really don’t want to do this,” Aisha’s voice broke in, “and I really wish it could be another way, but...our current situation isn’t good, and I know that keeping an enemy amongst us could result in consequences.” She looked away at the wall, refusing to meet Elesis’s gaze. “I’m sorry Elesis. I...I vote for killing Elsword. I’m sorry.”

Elesis backed away towards her brother, gritting her teeth as she focused on him and him alone. “You...you guys are serious…” She looked up at Eve, who was preparing to summon Oberon. “But didn’t killing prove useless before? You killed Lu and Ciel, and they still resurrected.”

Eve blinked, unamused. “I was foolish to think they would bleed the spores out. I’m theorizing that Alterasia feeds off the human brain, so presumably, if Oberon beheads Elsword, it should prevent him from turning. All we need is for you to step aside, Elesis.”

 

The odds were against her. Every bit of good that could come out of this would only result from killing Elsword. Elesis didn’t even have to raise a finger. She turned her head to look sideways at her brother. His sleeping face looked so peaceful, and despite the danger he posed she wanted to sit next to him and ruffle his hair and let him sleep on her lap, just like the old days.

Elesis steeled herself and forced her feelings to temporarily subside. Elsword would thank her when they met again. It was for the good of Elrios, for the good of Elsword. It was...it was the only option with good results.

She forced herself to push aside the memories threatening to bring opposing emotions. She rubbed her eyes to prevent herself from crying. 

“Alright. You...do what you must.” Elesis hugged herself and turned away, heading straight for the empty dissection table and sitting on it. She stared at the white tiled ground, Eve’s call for Oberon falling on ears too well trained to ignore it. When the blade was unsheathed and the executioner neared, she lowered her head and covered her eyes, trying her hardest to prevent the tears from coming.

She heard the slice as clear as day, and the fragile dams built in her mind collapsed.

 

 

Three hours remained. In the past two all Add had managed to do was continuously fail to deactivate lockdown. He let out a growl as another attempt ended in failure and switched back to cameras, watching the Kaiser in the experimentation room sniff Raven’s corpse. A bolt of fear ran down his spine, but he quickly dispelled it with logic. After all, even a fully mature Alterasia infection would take a day to force a corpse to move. He need not worry about that.

The view switched to the room next to him. He took in the sight of a large, red drag mark, which lead to the corner of the room. Elsword’s body and head were placed in the farthest corner, and the others were seated as far away from it as they could be. Aisha was playing with her magic, and Rena was trying to console Elesis, who seemed to be crying. Eve...Eve was staring directly at the camera, her eyes dull as ever.

Add stared right back for a moment, temporarily forgetting she couldn’t actually see him. She blinked, continuing to eye the camera, and finally the camera naturally switched to the room he was in. He saw himself sitting against the door, a single screen open, and felt stupid for a moment. He was running on limited time; he needed to make up with the rest of the Elgang and plan for Esper. That was if Esper decided to attack him. Alone he wouldn’t last long, but if he brought a dozen Alterasia with him, Add would need more than just a few bodyguards. 

A loud roar sounded from two rooms over. Add froze, his mind already working to identify it, and opened a screen. He quickly checked the camera for the experimentation room--and let out a shocked cry. Within the room, the Kaiser was now holding out its sword, roaring loudly at the invader crouching next to Raven’s body. Add recognized his dead copy, who kept his head bowed and his hand on Raven’s head. Despite this action of surrender, the Kaiser continued to growl, now drawing its sword near and beginning to circle.

Add was shocked to say in the least. Usually, when a Kaiser met another Alterasia, it would roar once to establish dominance. Any opposition would be crushed so positions could be maintained. Esper, completely aware of this, had bowed his head and laid low to the ground, an act meant to signify giving in. Under most circumstances, the Kaiser would accept this and move on.

But this was different. For reasons unknown, the Kaiser continued to growl at Esper, and now it was circling him. Add found this behavior disturbing and fascinating. Kaiser’s would only growl and roar at the disobedient, which Esper was not. But the growling, the circling, the roar and the brandishing…

There was no denying this. Shocking as it may be, the Kaiser viewed Esper as a threat to itself. Because of nature’s laws, any creature of equal strength and ranking would be viewed as a threat and eliminated. The Kaiser from four worlds away viewed Esper as an equal and a threat, and despite his actions still circled to kill him.

So was Esper a Kaiser mutant? Add contemplated this, weighing the options against each other. Esper held a new trait, which may contribute to his status. He also held a higher intelligence level, which would without a doubt place him higher in the rankings. But his strength in general seemed very low, and his wound made him very vulnerable. What else could contribute to his status?

 

Add’s gaze had drifted from the screen, and it only returned when a guttural growl sounded. He looked at the screen, expecting to see the Kaiser hovering over Esper’s body. Instead, a horrifying sight greeted him.

Esper slowly pulled away from Raven’s body, the roots that had entered it now retracting back into his fingertips. Raven let out a loud growl, just barely moving his human arm, before his head snapped up, eyes filled with rage. The Kaiser roared at him and jumped back, raising its head and letting out a commanding roar.

The supposed-to-be-dead corpse of Raven picked itself up and positioned itself in front of Esper. A green fluid dripped out of its eyes and mouth as it stomped forward, baring its teeth. The Kaiser let out another commanding roar which fell on deaf ears. Realizing it had lost its power, it brandished its sword and let out a threatening growl.

Add watched, fascinated, as it attacked and began to beat the once formidable Kaiser to a juicy pulp. Esper sat back, tapping his fingers on his arm. He looked up, straight at the security cameras, and flipped Add off.

Add held a hand to his chest, mildly offended by this gesture. He glared back at Esper, who eventually looked away to keep an eye on Raven. Deciding it wasn’t worth his time to watch his alternate self observe the death of his new species, Add switched to the camera in the room next to it. He needed to make up with them soon; best to check their moods before making any brash actions.

The camera for their room was complete static. Add let out a surprised gasp before realization struck him. Eve. She’d known he was watching them and had somehow disabled the camera. 

He felt a vein tick as he turned towards the door and changed to map, switching from cameras to the security drones. Fine. If Eve wanted to play like that, then he’d just have to show her that his technology was impossible to avoid. Like it or not, they were being monitored, and like it or not he was the one in control.

That all changed the moment the screech of metal tearing sounded through the lab.

 

The roaring from before had terrorized Aisha, left her casting charms and spells out of fear, forced her into the corner and next to the only solace she knew, and yet even it was temporary, leaving her with a false feeling of comfort. Next to her Rena was poised into a battle state, ready to fling into action or provide support. Eve had summoned all three of her servants, each one with their weapon drawn. Elesis remained in front of them, serving as the temporary leader they all knew they could rely on.

But now, things had worsened. Aisha had fought the undead before, battling ghosts and zombies in Feita and destroying the necromancers who’d brought them back to life. She’d read about the undead and the spells you use to resurrect them, although she’d never tested them herself. She was one of the most knowledgeable in the Elgang, and yet…

Nothing prepared her for what happened next.The roaring had just died down, the brutal blows and squishes no longer invading her mind. She kept her staff raised but let her mental guard down, expecting it to be over. So when a familiar claw suddenly tore through the metal door separating them from the experimentation chamber, the chamber where the supposed Kaiser was, she’d been caught off guard. Aisha screamed, dozens of fearful bolts stabbing into her chest at once, as the claw gripped the metal edges beneath it and tore them off like paper. That wasn’t supposed to happen. That was reinforced steel. It wasn’t meant to be broken or torn or burned or even damaged, and here she was witnessing its destruction.

The worst part of it all was who was doing it. She’d been there when he died, unable to watch or help. She’d cried, wishing it hadn’t ended that way. And now, here he was, alive and angry as ever. Raven was tearing through that door, steadily opening a hole. He looked just as he had in death save for two details--green was dripping from every opening in his face, and one of his eyes had been completely torn out.

Unlike Aisha, Elesis sprang into action, launching two fireballs and immediately forming more. Eve supplied her with backup attacks, commanding Ophelia to launch several energy bursts at the attacking creature. Aisha even managed to do her part, sending out a magic missile and a meteor.

The fire was enough to deter the creature. The combination of attacks burned its skin and face, searing away the flesh and burning the layers beneath. It let out a guttural roar and backed away, into the darkness of the next room.

Aisha kept her guard up and slowly followed Elesis, who’d begun to creep forward, fireballs still blazing on her hands.

The only thing she heard was a loud yell, and the door was suddenly broken through. The loud blast startled Aisha, and the shockwave from the attack knocked her back. She slammed against the wall with a squeak, clutching her staff like it was her life thread.

The Raven Alterasia was now in the center of the room, scorched from both its own attack and theirs. Its eyes darted around quickly and focused on Elesis, who was crouched next to the door leading to the room MasterMind had fled into. With a loud growl it stomped forward, raising its claw to take off her head.

Rena reacted first. She came from the left, attacking with a spinning drill kick. The Alterasia roared at her and took it to the face, barely fazed by the attack. Rena didn’t have enough time or energy to launch herself off of the Alterasia, and to Aisha’s horror she landed right next to it. The creature grabbed her by head, roared in her face, and threw her straight into the wall. 

Aisha let out a cry, which directed the creatures attention to her. With a loud hiss, it stomped forward, already raising its claw. Aisha, however, wasn’t ready to go down without a fight. She quickly casted a wisdom aura over herself, already feeling the effects of it. The Alterasia neared, its mouth twisting into a crooked grin as it loomed over her. 

Aisha smiled, her eyes fierce. “Have a nice nap, freak!” She yelled out, immediately casting a Meteor Shower. The creature screamed and cowered back as a dozen fireballs slammed into it, burning away even more of its skin. It glared at her, single eye filled with enough rage to kill. Aisha stuck her tongue out right as she casted Blaze Step, sure of her invincibility.

She was wrong. The creature roared, and before she could use teleport it had launched a Wild Charge on her. The blow smashed her into the wall behind her. Something cracked as she slid down, her body still coated with flames. Aisha slumped down onto the ground, feeling her mana and strength drain as the Alterasia kicked her away. She barely managed to lift her head, seeing Rena lying on the ground nearby, and dragged herself over, praying the elf was still alive.

Eve yelled out a command, and she heard Oberon’s slashing and Ophelia’s grenades. Even Ferdinand joined in. She managed to look over in their direction, seeing a flurry of slashes and a single opposer…

But even they weren’t enough, for she heard another roar, and another creature leaped in. She saw green, a single broken wing, and a large sword. Its visor was red, similarly colored dots running down its arms and back. It looked partially beaten but somehow still intact.

The Raven Alterasia roared at it, the creature ignoring its cries. It charged straight for Oberon, knocking one of his blades away and following up with a slash across the chest. Ferdinand sliced it’s back open, green fluid pouring out. Before he could finish the job, the Raven Alterasia slammed into him, throwing the poor Nasod away. Ophelia launched an electric pulse at it, her aim shifting between both of them as they neared her mistress. Eve stepped back, readying her drones as the two Alterasia smashed Ophelia away.

The world began to turn fuzzy. Aisha knew her time spent conscious was going to end soon, and perhaps with it her time on this earth. She looked at her friends, the people she’d grown to know and care for, and felt a few tears trickling down her cheeks. At least she’d reunite with the real Raven in the afterlife, and with him everyone else who had been sacrificed.

“Enough.” Elesis’s voice was low as she spoke. “Enough of this. I will not tolerate it any longer.” 

Aisha managed to turn her head in Elesis’s direction, seeing the mixed expression on the Blazing Heart’s face. She detected rage, sorrow, justice, regret, and determination coming from her, the proud leader of the Red Knights. Aisha felt a tiny smile form on her face. The proud leader of the Red Knights, their leader as of recent, the one who’d save them from all of this. 

She detected a mana surge coming from Elesis, the power of El flowing in towards her, and suddenly Aisha realized where this was going. Fear and horror filled her, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak, to beg Elesis not to use it. In such close quarters, she’d kill more than just the Alterasia--to think, just one had been formidable enough to force Elesis to this.

Aisha did the only thing she could--she gathered the last of her mana and cast a fire resistance on her and Rena. She felt horrible over leaving Eve out. She felt horrible that Elesis was about to do this. Aisha closed her eyes and prayed it would be over soon.

One of the Alterasia roared, and she heard something crack. It stomped forward, growling like a mad dog. Eve let out a small gasp.

“For Elsword,” Elesis muttered. “For Elrios. ANCIENT...FIRE!”

 

 

The sight was a mess. The fact that Add’s lab had been ruined was reason enough to cause him anger, but upon checking the pulses of his “allies” he realized what a waste it had all been. He only counted two dead Alterasia, but there were four bodies in the room. The brother and sister, both of whom he’d never liked, were dead, respectively burned up and burned out. The mage and elf were intact but burnt, in desperate need of medical care. And Eve, the Nasod Queen...her body could endure certain temperatures, but he was sure the servants crowded round her body were the only reason she wasn’t completely gone. Her fingers had fused together, and her arm was now melted to her chest, but other than that she was alive. Add considered it nothing short of a miracle.

He had no reason to rescue them. They were too weak to provide him any form of protection, and yet he found himself moving them to the metal tables in the experimentation room, giving the ones with actual flesh a shot of painkiller before leaving them be. Rena could heal them the moment she woke up. 

As for Eve…he regarded her body for a bit, debating what to do with her. Her codes were right there, and this body certainly was no longer of any use. For him to take her codes now would be mercy, but it would also buy into the valuable hour he had left. He should be amplifying security, not concerning himself with a half dead Nasod.

Add forced himself to ignore her, reviewing his options one more time. Esper wasn’t dead, and from what he’d observed he could build himself an army in no time. The roots infected Raven within minutes, which meant his contamination abilities were impossibly fast. Esper still had his technology and intelligence, which was threatening enough on its own. What could he do in such a situation?

Add began to pace back and forth, contemplating how to win this war. He had approximately forty five minutes to think, and he was coming away blank. Of all the times to run out of ideas, now was the worst. His life was on the line.

Then again, what else would he do in this world? He couldn’t move on, and it would take months to copy Esper’s technology. Alterasia had taken over Sander and Velder, and a Kaiser was still intact somewhere within there. Not to mention Esper was running around, creating easy movement between the two areas. This world was fucked, through and through, and he’d been dumb enough to let himself be caught up in it.

Add shook it off and reverted back to planning. Finally, he moved again to his charred lab, staring at the black floor.

Hiding in the alternate room for storage wasn’t an option. His lab was unusable due to fire. His movement itself was limited, and he was on his own.

Add sighed. A final stand wouldn’t do him much good, but if he could just damage Esper enough to slow him, a killing blow would be easy. If he remained in a cornered area, Esper couldn’t teleport behind him. And in a larger area, he could summon all of his drones, including Apocalypse, and create a front for Esper to break through.

If I win, I take his technology and move on. If I lose… He bit his lip. I’ll see them again. 

He sighed and opened a screen, checking the timer he’d created when Esper had first whispered into his mind.

It read thirty minutes.

“Thirty minutes,” he whispered to himself. “Thirty minutes. You’ve got all the time in the world, Add. Make up your mind.”

Do you want to live or die? Is it worth it anymore, now that you’re alone, despised by the copies you once called friends? Despised by yourself, for actions you willingly took?

Keep living, Add. Keep living for us, the ones who couldn’t make it. Don’t let our sacrifices be for naught. Find the power you’ve been searching for, and use it to destroy these demons once and for all.

The words Ciel - his Ciel - had muttered to him when he bled out on that fateful day, his own copy looming over both of them, gunblade in hand, repeated themselves in his mind.

Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes before that promise was broken or kept. Thirty minutes before they’d be reunited or left here. Thirty minutes.

You’ve got all the time in the world, Add.


End file.
